Revenge is sweet
by Saifa aon
Summary: AU. Intent on looking for revenge of the ravaging of his home planet Voldan will stop at nothing to avenge his people, but will Riddick help him in this or hinder him, for more info on Voldan visit my profile. Please RnR constructive criticism is welcome.
1. Chapter 1

He looked around the ship he was aboard, paying particular attention to his crewmates. There were four in the cockpit; a pilot, a navigator and two gunners, who, if he was right would be going out onto the exterior that fired nets.

He never normally associated with mercenaries, but this time was different. He had practically been begged to help a bunch of mercs on this particular job. He hadn't been told the details, he had just been told that the bounty was extremely dangerous and had a knack for escape.

He had a feeling that the mercs he was with were not keen on him, he could tell by the way they were looking at him, the way their voices were hushed. They didn't realise he could hear every word they were saying, advanced hearing does have it benefits.

"I don't trust him, what's he doin' 'ere?" one of them asked.

"He's gonna help us get the bounty." said the other.

"We gonna pay him?" asked one of the gunners

"Well, that all depends if he plays along, if he doesn't then we'll just ghost him." A chuckle followed this statement.

"Toombs, I think we should ghost him now, he looks too shifty to me." remarked an anxious merc. The person he was talking to, Toombs, was obviously the leader of this ragtag bunch of amateurs.

"How does he look shifty, he's hardly moved a muscle," replied Toombs, glancing over to the figure at the back of the ship.

"That's exactly my point, he's hardly moved since he got on this here ship."

"Stop worrying yourself; he won't do anything, he's outnumbered." At this the man in the corner looked up. His face was shaded by his hood, but there was no mistaking the warning look in his eyes. Toombs just smiled and looked away; he was never one to be intimidated the only one who could successfully do that was the convict they were chasing now. He always made his blood go cold. But he had to admit, this ex-soldier they were taking with them must have a background to him, quite a fearsome one too as he was warned to take him with them just in case their quarry got too aggressive.

He also remarked how heavily armed he was, but also at the same time how lightly armed he was. He carried a lot of throwing knives with him plus two fighting knives and a long sword on his back. But he carried no guns. 'Heh, you're gonna need guns for who we're chasing pal' he thought then looked away.

"I think he's dangerous." Whispered the navigator, making the cloaked figure smile.

"Of course he is, he wouldn't have been recommended to us if he wasn't, isn't that right?" another smile, "you don't say much do ya?"

"I don't need to," the figure said. His voice sent shivers down the mercs' backs, it was low, but gravelly, or was that just the voice he put on? Toombs couldn't decide, "My blades do the talking for me."

The two gunners visibly shook; there was something about this man that made him seem worse than Toombs, who was a reputed mercenary.

* * *

They arrived at the planet; it was cold, bitterly cold, with snow covering the ground for miles. 'So this is where our quarry is?' he thought. A smile crept across his face, the sight of these mercs freezing was hilarious. They were all shivering, their teeth chattering; even the renowned Toombs was subdued by the cold.

They were sitting outside for a bit. Well some were sitting others were pacing, either so they could stretch their legs or try to get themselves warm. Toombs looked over to the still cloaked man, he had heard that this man was like a mercenary, but some like to call his particular profession a contractor, travelling to other planets helping in battles with lesser technologically advanced countries or smaller armies against more advanced larger armies, helping planning the defence and offence of the defending country. Toombs guessed he was a high ranking soldier.

There was something that did puzzle him though. While they were all shivering and freezing, he was sat there with no signs of being cold at all, and he was glowing. Why the Hell was he glowing? He wasn't before. Toombs hated being puzzled, and he hated being cold, the sooner they got off this rock the better.

"Right, everybody back on the ship, I'm freezin' my arse off here. Let's find him and go and get our money." They all smiled then individually looked at the hooded man, as if to say, 'there's only enough for four, bub'.

The gunners were helped to get strapped in to their positions on the stub wings, then the other two climbed on. Toombs settled behind the main controls while the navigator, the anxious one, climbed in behind him. The stranger climbed in last, sitting in his previous position at the back of the ship. Toombs smiled.

"What's it like sitting at the back of the bus?" the stranger just grunted in reply, biting back a venomous remark about the fact that they were all amateur predators chasing a large and experienced prey.

The craft took off again, this time at a slower pace because of the gunners outside. They were flying low, looking for any figure which looked like a man.

They were searching for hours. There was nothing in sight apart from snow. 'Snow, snow and more fuckin' snow' he thought, 'why, on every thing that is Holy, did whoever it is up their make this shit.' He was searching around; there was a few advantages of having superior senses than other humans and other sentient beings. He was using his superior sight to scan the landscape, but there was nothing in sight.

There was a chuckle at the back making Toombs swing round, nearly head-butting his navigator in the process.

"What's so funny?" he demanded, there was no answer, just silence.

"Looks like your man has disappeared." The man at the back said in a mocking tone, finally breaking the silence, before tipping his head back and going to sleep, the hood of his long black cloak covering his eyes. Toombs examined him again. Said cloak was fastened to a black breastplate-back-plate thing, which he thought was called a cuirass. He had seen one of those before, there were expensive, lightweight and tough. He had been told it was a composite cuirass, made of steel and Kevlar.

He was also wearing a long sleeved black top, vambraces of the same material as the cuirass with scallops on the side and black reinforced boots. He also had strange pads on the palms of his gloves and he noted again the shit load of knives and the sword on his back. After looking over him again he growled low in his throat and turned away.

He was resting his eyes for what seemed as a long time. He was aware of the lead mercenary looking at him, examining the way he looked and his weapons, probably sizing him up to see if he would be easy to remove. Just as he was drifting off the ship sped up. He looked across wondering what the commotion was about. Out of the windscreen he could see a ragged figure running along the snow.

"You said we wouldn't find him." Toombs said mockingly throwing a quick glance at the alert figure at the back. He got a grunt in reply.

"Take the shot!" Toombs shouted, in answer a net was fired from the starboard gun, just missing the running man. Toombs shouted again, then another net flew out from the port side, immediately followed by another from the starboard side. One missed but the other hit the fugitives shoulder causing the running man to stumble.

After he pulled out the net he stood in the cave mouth, brandishing two knives which were reversed in his hands. Toombs quickly pulled the ship to a stop, causing everybody inside to lurch forward.

"Riddick." Toombs said, with a crooked smile.

The cloaked man at the back was shocked at the name. He hadn't been told of who exactly they were chasing, only that he was highly dangerous and required someone skilful enough to capture him. The only reason why he had accepted was because of the fact that he was told that the man he was chasing was a murderer and innocents could be harmed. Now he realised that it was all a ploy to bring him in; an ex soldier with his reputation would be a good match for the renegade.

He knew he was a murderer, and he was probably a danger to innocents, but not on this planet, this cold barren wasteland called UV6. As much as he didn't like mercenaries, and that he thought he was going to be used and dumped after the capture of the renegade, he knew he had to help these amateurs; otherwise they would all be killed.

He saw the gesture from Riddick, telling them to follow him in to the cave.

"I don't know Toombs, looks kinda tight." said the starboard gunner

"Not from where I'm sitting," replied Toombs, "so throw on a fresh pair of panties, and let's get this right."

The ship started moving into the cave. There was less than a meter each side; it was so narrow in some places that he worried for the gunners. Then he heard something, they all did; it was the sound of someone screaming. Toombs turned the light to where the sound emanated from to see that the portside gunner had gone, along with his gun.

"Tags, you got eyes on Riddick?" Toombs asked, and after he got no response, "Tags!"

He turned the light to the other side to see the other gunner had disappeared; only this one had left his gun there. Toombs spun the ship round quickly, some may say skittishly.

"Jesus," said the navigator, "He just ghosted two guys and I never even saw him."

They were both looking worried, Toombs and the navigator. The man in the back was looking smug, but not so smug as he knew what was happening, he was glad that these mercs were getting taught a lesson in facing an expert, even the veteran Toombs was acting a little skittish.

He heard Toombs give the other man an order to collect a net-gun from the gun-rack and keep a look out for Riddick at the door. No sooner had he done that had an arm come down and threw him out. This was what the ex soldier had been trained for. He jumped up and just before Riddick got into the ship, he blocked the way and came face to face with their quarry. The goggled bearded man took hold of his cloak and tried to pull him out, but he was prepared for that and pulled the opposite way.

Riddick gave a growl and pulled harder. This time he was unbalanced as the other man moved with him. Then with a sudden speed, he was pulled into the ship. Riddick was caught unawares and for a moment was under the armoured mans control, but very soon after, he turned the tables and sprang up, taking hold of the other man and throwing him out of the ship. Unlike the others he didn't scream. He knew it would take more of a fall than that to kill him and he landed on his feet in the snow, but in a crouching position. He looked up after brushing himself off; the navigator was stood there staring in disbelief at the cloaked man. He was just about to say something when there was another scream above him. He looked up and immediately regretted it as Toombs fell on him.

The hijacked ship was then turned and flown expertly out of the cave. The cloaked man started running after it as if he could catch it just by running, Toombs looked up and saw the speed at which he was moving. 'He's not natural', he thought, then sat up. He was watching the running man and saw him press something on his arm, followed swiftly by a large ship landing at the cave mouth, its door open at the side. He could see from his position that there was no one flying; it must have been on autopilot. He recalled seeing a ship orbiting the planet. He reckoned it must homed in on his signal and been told to orbit until called. Then the ship took off with the cloaked man in the driver's position, and was in pursuit of Riddick.

'He's gonna get my bounty.' He thought bitterly, 'the whole 1.5 million of it.' He vaguely remembered hearing his name; Voldan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any characters, plots or places from Riddick, other than my own of course.

Chapter 2

He was furious. He was left alone on this horrible, frozen planet. His crew had died because of Riddick, and that son of a bitch, Voldan, had taken off after Riddick to get the bounty which should have been his! And what was worse he didn't have a ship to pursue either of them since that wretch stole his. He couldn't think either, not because of the cold, but because of the number of curses running through his head.

All he could think of, apart from the curses, was walking out of the cave, and perhaps finding someone who he could hitch a ride off. It was highly unlikely of course, but there was always the possibility. He couldn't stop shivering. It was so cold. He wished he had a coat. He knew he couldn't survive on this planet for very long, even with the pace he had set himself. He was going to die on this wretched ball of ice. He looked behind him. The cave was quite far away now; while he was lost in his thoughts he had travelled farther than he knew. He stopped and looked around. There was nothing around other than snow. 'Bloody snow!' he thought.

Then something caught his eye, a glimmer. At first he thought it was just the snow, but then he realised that the glimmering was too bright and fixed in one position giving the impression that it was a metallic or glass object. It could be a ship. A ship! Toombs started racing towards the glimmer, the prospect of hope too strong to ignore.

He was running for what felt like two hours and he was still no closer to the reflected light. He still didn't give up hope and kept running until he was exhausted. He nearly keeled over with the tiredness when he realised that the glimmering was coming towards him. Either that or he was imagining it. No, he was certainly not imagining it. It was a ship and it was flying low as if it was looking for someone. It seemed a strange coincidence, he was here looking for someone as well. They must be here to look for Riddick, who else could they be searching this desolate planet for.

It could prove to be the worst decision he had ever made but he had to try. He started jumping up and down waving frantically. In fact he was doing anything which would attract attention, including running around in circles and shouting abuse up at the occupants of the ship.

The ship stopped in midflight, hovering. Toombs felt hope running through his body, he was going to be saved and then he might just have a chance of getting the bounty he had earned. But the elation turned to dread, however, when he saw one of the occupants of the ship step to the doorway with a gun and point it at him. Seeing this, the only thought that was going through his mind then was, 'oh shit!'

* * *

"Hold your fire!" the leader of the ship shouted at the gunner who was aiming an assault rifle at Toombs. "He is one of us!"

"Sir?" the merc asked, confused.

"It's not our man."

"So who is it?"

"Someone I know. Now put your Goddamn gun down!"

The merc hurriedly put his gun down, knowing not to cross his leader, who was a ruthless mercenary. The ship was set down, blowing snow all about it from its downward thrusters. The occupants all filed out of the ship via its side door. Toombs watched them closely, expecting a trap. His suspicion was lifted however when he saw the last man who came out of the ship. A smile stretched across his face, an expression which was copied by the leader of the mercs.

"Razor! I haven't seen you in years!" Toombs said, throwing his arms around his old friend.

"Toombs, It's been too long, what are you doing here? And so underdressed?"

"I was tracking a bounty, but he got away, along with my ship." Toombs snarled, "What are you doing here?"

"I was tracking a bounty as well. What a coincidence. Let me guess, Riddick?"

"Yeah. I was this close to getting him too if my crew weren't so scared." Razor laughed.

"Maybe we can work together?" Toombs smiled.

"I don't think so, but you can give me a lift. I need a new crew."

"Why not work with me? It'll be a Hell of a lot cheaper."

"Yeah but I know what you're like. You don't like sharing bounties."

"Ha! I'm not that bad. Please not in front of the crew, their frightened enough as it is." He said the last quietly. Toombs just smirked.

"Are we going? I'm freezing my tits off here." Toombs said shivering massively as if to emphasise the point. Everyone climbed back on the ship. The navigator's seat had been claimed by Toombs so he could talk to his old friend. The ship took off and flew out of the atmosphere. He was glad to be off that lump of ice. He was even happier because now he could go and collect his bounty.

* * *

He had been beaten. He hated being beaten. He didn't even want to go on that mission, with those damned amateurs, but he had been roped in to it. Well actually he had been guilt-tripped.

"If you don't go, and they get killed by him, he could go and slaughter so many innocent people in his rage. Now, you don't want all their deaths on your conscience, do you?"

His pride had been hurt, and it was a death sentence if anybody hurt his pride. He wasn't bothered about the money, he had plenty of that. He earned a lot from when he was commanding an infantry brigade back on Brilbane, and from his contractor career. But he did want paying - in blood. More specifically, in Riddick's blood. Nobody beat him so easily and lived to boast about it. Voldan was a soldier, and he had a soldier's pride. Pride was a soldier's most prized possession.

But his more rational side was screaming at him, telling him he couldn't harm the convict. And there was something nagging at him, something that in his rage he had forgotten, something concerning Riddick.

He took off his cloak, unclasping the snaps from his breastplate, letting his long brown hair fall to his shoulders. He pressed a button on his dashboard then pressed an icon on his touch-screen pad which was activated by the previous button. A door slid open, showing a hidden wardrobe filled with clothes. There were hidden compartments all over his ship; even his exterior weapons were cloaked. He pressed another button and slid open another door revealing another hidden compartment housing armour; cuirasses of different thicknesses, Pauldrons of different shapes and styles and different pairs of vambraces, each with a different assortment of hidden weapons; his favourite being the ones he was wearing which held throwing knives and retractable knives on the bottom.

He took off his armour and stored it in the compartment, pressing another button to close it. He went back to the controls and opened his map, then typed in his coordinates. The map zoomed into the galaxy. He looked around, looking for planets close by. That little ship couldn't travel for that long, it needed to refuel at some point. Plus, if Riddick was anything like he had been told, he would be going straight to the source of the bounty. Then he saw a planet which was in their direction on the live map, a map which shows ships and planets moving in real time. He pressed that planet and the name came up; Helion Prime.

"Ah, so that's where you're headed?" he said to himself. "Well, Riddick, this should be fun." He smiled, then pressed another button which dropped shutters down the windows, blocking out all light. Then he plotted a route to Helion Prime and set the ship on autopilot. Once satisfied, he stood up and walked across the steel tiles on the floor, walked up some steps of the same material then pressed a button which slid open a door leading to his bedroom. It was a spacious room with three rectangular windows which were shuttered. In the centre of the room, at the back was his double bed with a feather mattress and silk covers. He took off his clothing and neatly placed them in to a compartment, which, when a button on it was pressed, the door closed and a quiet noise emanated from it. The compartment was in fact washing machine and a dryer. He walked towards his bed, his muscles shining in the light, his scars a lighter colour than his tanned skin. He lay on his bed, his arms folded behind his head. He was looking at the ceiling, thinking about the events of the day, of how Riddick had beaten five people easily. 'Oh dammit! Why the Hell did I think about that?' He was calm, but now he'd riled himself again, only this time he was angrier, much angrier. 'Just wait 'til I find you again Riddick, you son of a whore.' He thought to himself and every thing in his room started shaking violently, including his bed. 'Calm down, Voldan.' He calmed himself. The shaking stopped as he calmed down, then he slowly drifted asleep.

* * *

He woke up with a start, grasping the knife that he keeps under his pillow, and brandishing it in front of him ready to slash anyone and anything around him. He looked around, sweat pouring down his face and chest. There was nothing around, no ghouls, no monsters and no assassins. Sometimes he hated sleep; sometimes all he could see were their faces. The faces of the people he had let down. Now they were dead, or captured. His family; a wife, two daughters and a son, he still scorned himself for their deaths.

_They were living happily, on the income he was bringing in from the army and from his contractor career. He had left to help in the war with the Velsumidian tribe against the Delsivians, when the Necromongers 'visited' his planet. He raced back to his planet, but he was too late._

_There were signs of a struggle and he knew that this fight had lasted more than a couple of days, but the planet was ravaged, nothing was left, no buildings left standing, not even the palace which was built like a fortress. It was there that most of the Necro bodies resided. Voldan knew that that would be the place where the fight lasted the longest; against the Elite Palace Guards, but even they had been overwhelmed. And then there were the commanders to consider. They were the strongest in the army but even they couldn't stand against the might of the Necromongers, though there were a few missing, them being the Marshall's lieutenant, Brigadier Davrun, who was also Voldan's best friend, he was a Pyrokinetic, and one of the strongest in the military. And also Telesor, a cryokinetic. She was a friend of Voldans, and there were many rumours around that she had a soft spot for Voldan. _

_When he walked around to his home, or what would have been his home, he saw his father lying dead, covered in the rubble of his house, his mother was there as well as his eldest child, his daughter; Voldianne. His wife and youngest daughter and his son were gone. He had heard voices, hope rushed through him, thinking there were survivors. But when he saw them, he didn't care if he was caught. There were a company of Necros walking around. A captain and about thirty soldiers. He didn't wait; he drew his knives and charged at them headlong, taking out their captain in one swipe and cutting his way into the centre of the ranks._

_It was there that he showed them what true power was, unleashing a massive serge of electricity, killing at least ten of them, then used his telekinesis killing another five. He knew he was stupid in doing that, there were still ten left and he had used the majority of his energy using his powers. But that didn't stop him. He killed every Necro there before falling to his knees, partly with the grief of failing his family, and partly due to exhaustion. _

Now he saw his children's faces in his dreams, screaming his name, shouting for help. But he couldn't help them. He had heard of what the Necromongers do, kill or convert. He thought that he could take his children back, but God knows where they were, and his wife will have been converted by now and he had heard that there was no going back once converted. So he thought of a plan; kill every Necro you see. It sounded good at the time, it still did, but he wouldn't kill his wife or his kids.

Then he remembered, that was what he had been told. He had been told to look for a man named Riddick.

"He can help you in your fight against the Necromongers." The voice was fresh in his head, "make him an ally, and he will be one of the best allies you will find. But make him an enemy; well let's just say you won't live to see the sun set."

"Why would he help me?" He said aloud, "he is a convict, a criminal, he wouldn't help me, besides what makes him so special?" There was a loud voice which sounded like it came from every corner in his chamber making him jump out of bed, with his knife at the ready again, crouched in a defensive position, knife reversed in front of him.

"Because he is the strongest of his kind, and is your only hope if you decide to go after Zhylaw, the Necromonger Lord Marshall." It was a woman's voice. Voldan looked around, then shook his head, believing he was going mad. Then he heard it again.

"Do not take this lightly, Voldan, he is the only one who can help you, you _must_ make him an ally, if you are ever to find your wife again." He froze at this, he had told no one of this, nobody who wasn't from Brilbane knew of his loss. "Riddick can help you find them, he has a score to settle with the Lord Marshall too, though he does not yet realise it. He too is a Furyan, and your leader."

There was another Furyan out there? He never thought that was possible, he had heard of what had happened to that planet. He was a half Furyan, but he had been born on Brilbane and had lived there ever since. And he would be damned if he was going to follow orders from someone half his age. However, if what - whoever it was - said was true, then now he was hunting Riddick for another reason. Not that he would let the fact that he had been beaten by him go, that would be an affliction which would stay with him for a while.

He got dressed, pulling on a pair of black combats, a long sleeved red top and his boots over some socks and walked to the control panel, pressing the button that would raise the shutters. He looked out and saw that he was near a planet. He guessed it was Helion Prime. It was getting dark down there. He looked to his left and saw a meteor. He had heard that the comet always preceded the Necromongers. It looked like he would get to see these bastards who everyone was scared of. Well not him. He was happy to let the ship stay on autopilot while he collected his weapons and armour. He pressed three buttons on the dash simultaneously, opening three doors on the left side of the wall, three hidden compartments. He clasped his cloak over his shoulders to his breastplate which he had taken from the middle compartment, strapped his scabbard to his back which held his double-edged sword, fastened a belt round his waist and slid two fighting knives into their sheaths. Six shuriken followed the knives, three each side. He connected a thin quiver to the back of his belt, filled with fifteen carbon-fibre arrows with razor sharp, barbed titanium heads and black feather fletchings. A folded carbon-fibre recurve bow slid in next to his quiver. Six long throwing knives were slid into his breastplate, three each side in a vertical line, six more were slid into his vambraces which were fitted to his arms after he connected his pads to his gloves.

These were the pads that Toombs had seen in his ship. They were used to focus his power, so that his electrical blasts could be focused in one place, though these dramatically decreased his power. Without them his power would do much more damage, but it would hit many people, maybe kill some innocents, which he didn't want to do. The last weapon he picked up was his sword staff. The staff had a black aluminium shaft, so that it was lightweight, but strong. On the haft there was a circular weight made of black steel about eight inches in diameter, which weighed about 20 kilos and was bluntly pointed at the end, and had two spikes on the same side as each edge of the blade and were at an angle towards the blade. The blade was over twenty-three inches long, white bladed and razor sharp.

He was ready for battle. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, but his blue eyes still shone out of them showing his power level. They shone brightly when he was angry, just like all the commanders eyes did. But he was more than angry; he was deathly calm, his iris' shone bright electric blue. Blood would be spilt tonight, and not his. Revenge was heavy in his mind, and Riddick would help him, he hoped.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

He landed on the planet, in a secluded area away from prying eyes. But instead of exiting straight away, he sat in the chair and watched out of the window, looking at the lights of the city in front. With the help of the map, he remembered what the city was called- New Mecca. He was surprised he hadn't been intercepted on the way down. It was standard procedure to intercept an unknown craft, on most planets, as it could be hostile. And with the threat of a Necromonger invasion he would have thought that the planet would have been on lockdown. Obviously not. He just couldn't understand it, but then again, he had come in over a dark area and his ship was black, so he may have been well camouflaged or he may have just missed the sentries.

He was watching and waiting. Watching for sentries, to see how many there were, where they were. Watching for any sign of the Necros, because as soon as they show themselves the city would go on lockdown for sure and he wouldn't be able to move without being seen, which wasn't a big deal, but seeing a cloaked and hooded man wearing weapons could arouse their suspicions. And waiting for the right time to go, the worst thing he could possibly do was to take his hover-bike out to get closer to the city when a sentry is patrolling. Once satisfied, he took his hover-bike out of his cargo bay, slotted his swordstaff into the saddle holster which was made specifically for a pole-arm and seated behind the handlebar at a slight angle.

He closed the cargo bay doors and looked at his ship appreciatively. It was large, at least 20 metres long from nose to tail and 13 metres long at its widest point. It may have been large, but was as fast - if not faster - and just as agile as a fighter. It was primarily a troop transporter, carrying up to 20 troops. Its cargo bay was designed to carry two speeders or one tank and two bikes. In this case he only had a fighter, his fighter, and his hover-bike. But the best part of the ship was its firepower. It played a dual role; first was the aforementioned troop transporter capability, and the second was a frigate destroyer, but Voldan upgraded the weapons to be able to take on a cruiser so he could tackle the large Necro ships. His main weapons were on the tips the wings, disguised as points. But when the ship entered attack mode the tips separated revealing the heavy cannons. There were anti-cruiser missiles hidden in the wings, and homing missiles, precision missiles and unguided missiles. Rockets were also in the ships armoury. Under the fuselage there was also a pair of concussion cannons. He loved his ship, but as yet he hadn't thought of a decent name for it, but that would come later. For now, he had work to do.

* * *

He mounted his bike and sped off towards the city, constantly looking around for a sight of a sentry or a Necro-ship. All was clear. It just wasn't right, where were all the ships, surely they must be preparing for an assault. Everyone knew that the comet preceded the Necros, but the soldiers of New Mecca had obviously not heeded that warning.

He left his bike on the outskirts of the city. Taking out his swordstaff, he started running. He was comfortably camouflaged at the moment since nothing could be seen where there were no lights, and he was wearing black. All that could be seen were his shining eyes, which looked like small, bright blue lights. Some people had mistaken his eyes when they were shining. They thought that they allowed him in to see in the dark. This is not the case however, as they only show that he is angry, and do not give him the ability of night-vision. He had enhanced senses, but they did not allow him to see in the dark. But like everyone else, when he couldn't see, his already enhanced hearing, and keen sense of smell was enhanced to make up for it. Though he had another sense that no one else had, and this sense was his strongest. He could sense electricity. This sense was so strong that he could even sense the small amount that was in the body, in the brain, and when it was passed through the body. This allowed him to sense movement. This was the sense he mainly relied on, because when people could move noiselessly, mask their smells and blend in to their surroundings, they could not mask the electricity from when they moved. This was the sense he was relying on now, he was running towards the lights while checking around for movement.

There wasn't far to go, he had parked on the outskirts, which were not a mile from the city. Safe enough to stay away from danger but close enough for him to get to quickly should he encounter any. Once inside the city, he slowed to a fast walk and stalked the streets. But it wasn't easy as the streets were still bustling with people; he guessed that they had taken the threat of invasion much more seriously than the soldiers had. To make it easier, he flipped the two switches on his pads which extended the claws and climbed swiftly up a wall to get to the roof. It was easy as they were all flat and close, allowing him to run across with ease. He heard a commotion not too far away and stopped to check what it was. There were soldiers shouting at civilians and there was more shouting in a big house.

He heard someone shout, "He can help us!"

And there was a woman shouting, though he could not make out what over the din. Then the noise of gunfire rang out of one of the rooms overlooking the street from the top. It was dark in their but was continuously illuminated by the flashes from the muzzles of the guns. Voldan crouched on the roof, staying out of sight of everyone down below, and watched. He had an inkling that Riddick would be here, simply for the fact of the amount of commotion and soldiers, he knew it wasn't the Necromongers; if it was, then there would have been Necros all over the streets, swarming like locusts and epic gun battles going on in the streets.

Suddenly the gunfire stopped. There was silence, well it wasn't silence as there was still the commotion in the street, but after the gunfire, it seemed like silence. A couple of minutes passed, then Voldan saw who he was looking for. Riddick walked out of the front door and after talking to a young child, he pulled his hood over his head and started running down the street. Voldan followed him from the roof, easily keeping up with his pace. Suddenly sirens started blaring, followed swiftly by more gunfire from heavier guns. Missiles and rockets soared through the air towards the sky.

By now, Riddick had come on to the roofs in front of Voldan and was running across almost as easily as Voldan, but he couldn't jump as far or as high. If he wanted to Voldan could clear three roofs with one leap while running, but he didn't as that would attract too much attention. A strange noise was in the air, sounding like something falling. He looked up and just as he did, he saw a pillar-like ship plummeting to earth, hitting the ground with so much force that it sent a dust cloud and shockwaves around it. Straight after the lights went out and the guns stopped as if there was something on that colossal ship that blacked out the city.

Riddick moved off, Voldan followed again trying to catch him, but his body wouldn't move any faster, as if it didn't want him to intercept the large man. He stopped. 'leave it for another day,' he thought, 'tonight, I've got old friends to catch up with.' As if on cue soldiers appeared in the street, Necro soldiers, they just appeared out of thin air. Voldan felt the rage grow inside him, his eyes shone brighter than ever before. One could practically see lightning bolts flashing in them. The roof on which he was standing began to vibrate menacingly and lightning flashed around his hands, but this time Voldan didn't placate himself, in fact, he fed his rage. These bastards had taken away his soldiers, his family, his home, and if he could, he would make every single one of them pay. He ran forward and jumped off the roof with a menacing blood-thirsty roar, a roar that sounded unnatural even to him. The Necros looked up as if expecting to see some kind of demon, but some just smiled as he landed in the middle of them, seeing he was merely a man, one man against Necro soldiers. Their cockiness influenced their smiles, making them wider. Voldan saw the smiles; it was a big mistake on their part.

Quicker than anyone expected he swung his swordstaff, decapitating a soldier and then went on to meet another point first. He yanked it out again and blood followed the blade. Another came forward. Voldan brought the haft up catching the soldier in the chin with enough force to lift him off his feet, indeed he was lifted off his feet and flew about six feet backwards, completing at least two somersaults as he went and crashed into another soldier behind him. Voldan didn't wait around to see the result, he went onto his next victim, skewering him with the point then withdrew it and smacked him in the side of the head causing his limp body to crash into an advancing Necro. Another came from behind. Voldan whipped round jumped and slammed the Blade into the man's skull. It was embedded in the brain and Voldan couldn't be bothered trying to take it out, not like the Necros would let him, he would deal with them first.

He drew his knives and starting methodically cutting through the soldiers. It was as if he was a spectator at a show; it all seemed so distant. He lost count how many he put down once he drew his knives, all he knew was that he was getting covered in blood from the slit jugulars. He kept on going until every Necro around him was either dead, dying, pretending or running. But he still wanted more, much more. But he would get it before the night was over.

* * *

Aereon had seen Voldan sitting on the roof. She had never seen him before, but some how he looked familiar. There was something about him that she had seen before. Perhaps it was the eyes; he might be a good 20 metres away but she could still see the shining eyes. That must be what, as Riddick had the same eyes, but this man's were a different colour. While Riddick had silvery eyes, this man's were blue, light blue, and they were bright. She saw him follow Riddick once he came out of the door. 'Two cloaked men,' she smiled. But no matter how much she joked, she could not shake the feeling of dread from her; she knew that Necromongers were coming, everyone did, and the comet kind of gave it away. But she was worried about the cloaked man, he looked like a soldier, and soldiers don't look for Riddick to be friends with them.

She took to following the armed man, gliding through the air.

She didn't actually realise how fast they both were. But she was easily keeping up with them. Then the Necromongers struck, the lights went out and the anti-air guns and SAM's stopped firing. She then saw the Necromongers land next to the rooftops where Riddick had been running, and where the second man was. She saw the cloaked man jump in to the midst of the company and she was sure that he was going to get killed. But he surprised her. She was stunned at the sheer ferocity of his fighting, not to mention his skill. One after the other fell under the blades of his knives until they had gone.

Aereon saw him sheath his knives and stoop to pick his spear, which was embedded in a soldier's skull, pink and grey gelatine spilt over the floor around him. She guessed this was as good a time as any. She just hoped he had calmed down enough. She glided down from the vantage point of the roof. She landed behind the soldier silently, so quietly that even Riddick would not have known she was there, apart from the wind of course, but they were outside so that would have been understandable. But even though she landed silently he still whipped around and rested the blade of his knife at her throat, the second time that had happened in the space of an hour. He didn't say anything, just stood and glared, his eyes flaring. Once he realised she wasn't a threat he moved his blade away, but he was still suspicious as this woman who glides through the air and becomes invisible in a gust of wind could be a threat.

"I am no threat to you," she said, as if reading his thoughts.

"Why should I listen to you? You may be a distraction for one of those bastards to stab me in back!" He growled, whipping round as if to see someone just about to do that. Lightning was flashing round his hands, a clear sign that he was furious, as always when fighting. Aereon noted the lightning.

"I assure you, I am not in league of the enemy," she spoke calmly, not wanting to rile this clear soldier any more than he already was, "Let us start again. I am Aereon, envoy of the Elementals."

At hearing this he calmed down instantly, he knew that the Elementals were a neutral faction, but they were good. "My name is Voldan Galdro, commander of the Nelrarnah brigade of Brilbane." He bowed low and then sheathed his knife, "please forgive me, for I was unaware of your being."

"No apology is needed; I should not have crept up on you." Voldan smiled,

"What brings you to me?"

"I have come to ask what you want of Riddick." She said politely.

"How do you know I was looking for Riddick, how do you know?" He was tense again, his barriers rising.

"I saw you crouched on the roof and follow him once he left the house." Voldan calmed down again.

"I have been told to look for him." His eyes had dimmed so that the iris's looked like those of any other blue eyes.

"Are you a mercenary?" she asked not meaning any offence, but she said the wrong thing; she knew as Voldan's eyes flashed again.

"I am no merc, and you will do well to remember it." He growled.

"I am sorry, I meant no offence, I am just curious as to why you are chasing Riddick."

"It is my business who I chase, why I chase them and how." His hands were flickering near the hilt of his left knife, ready to strike out again. Aereon knew she had to placate him, again, if she was ever to get information from him.

"I mean you no harm, nor do I mean to cause offence, please calm down."

Voldan's eyes flared brighter, but then dimmed again to normal level. It was pointless getting angry, he knew she did not mean to offend him, but she had caught him at a bad time, the daimon of battle had not yet left him. But she seemed to understand.

"I am sorry, but I don't have time for this right now, all I can, and will, tell you is that I have been sent to find Riddick to make him an ally."

"Who? Who sent you?"

"That I cannot tell you" He replied

"Why can't you?"

"Because, I do not know myself." He said, smiling, "All I know of that is, some woman contacted me through my thoughts, seemed to know what I was thinking and told me to look for Riddick because for what I need to do requires his help."

She seemed to understand, but didn't say anymore about it. "For someone who didn't want to tell me, you didn't keep it to yourself."

"That was the battle-side talking, this is me." He held out his hand, Aereon took it, "Voldan at your service."

"Thank you, but I do not require your service. I shall leave you now, you have company."

He looked behind him and saw another company of Necros heading his way, he turned back again to speak once more to Aereon, but she had vanished. He grunted turned away and made for the company, eyes once again shining with anger, knives reversed in his hands.

The last thing the captain saw was a bright eyed, goateed man charging towards him, Necro bodies behind him. He was about to shout to his men but some unseen force sent him flying back, hurtling over the heads of his soldiers and hitting the wall with a sickening crack. He saw through his fading vision the 'torch-eyed' man slicing through the ranks of his beloved Necromongers, heading towards him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Riddick had an inkling he was being followed, though he didn't know who by. Maybe it was Necromongers, but he didn't know for sure. Whoever it was wasn't following him now, as there was no one on the roofs behind him. He or she may have been distracted by the fighting. There sure was a lot of that around tonight, he could hear it. There were ships flying around, both Necro and New Meccan, waging their own private battles in the air. He looked around. The streets were filled with soldiers in dark grey armour, all carrying guns. This city was in for a hard night.

He jumped down from the roof, trying to stay hidden. He could see that the firepower of these soldiers was immense; the defending soldiers didn't have a chance against such might. He was trying to think, what was it that that Aereon said they do? Convert and kill? No, kill or convert, that was it. 'Hell, these sure do love themselves,' he thought, 'if they want everyone to be them.' He chuckled lightly to himself, much to the disturbance of a couple trying to get to the shelter. He looked at them and smiled before moving off again into the dark alleys. A couple of Necromongers broke ranks and headed into buildings, some of which ventured too close to Riddick, who, of course, killed them easily. Everywhere he looked there was death and dying, pain among innocents as they pushed through the crowds, crushing others as they tried to escape the horror of the men in grey. People were getting trampled; people were punching others to get through. Some men thought that now was the right time to give in to their sexual urges and raped women in the streets, or made love to their wives and such like.

It was amazing what war could do to people. Normally placated and gentle people became savages and animals under the shadow of war, all the bloodshed and smoke and pain drove them mad just like it does to animals. He saw a bunch of Necromongers attacking a young woman, gathering round her, pushing her around like a toy, tearing at her clothes. Now, Riddick isn't the kind of man who gives a shit about that, but these bastards were blocking his way, besides the girl was cute. He ran forward, using the shadows to his advantage, and then sprung on them, slitting throats. The last one he spared the cold steel of his blade. Instead he broke his neck listening to the bloodcurdling crack and crunching of the bones.

The girl watched her saviour killing her attackers, a sadistic smile on his face as he did so. She saw the blood spurt from one of the throats. This was much too much for her and when the last of them was dispatched she ran, not a word or nod of thanks to the bald man.

'Well that's gratitude for ya,' he thought watching after the retreating figure of the girl, 'the golden rule of helping people; don't. You don't get thanked for it.'

"Well that's my good deed for the day." He said to no one in particular, then strode off in the opposite direction, leaving the crumpled bodies of the Necromongers behind him. He came to a main street and looked left to right. Everywhere you went there were these Necros there, crowding the place, annihilating the defenders with their more advanced technology. He thought he had better look for Imam and his family. he didn't want them to die.

He took up a fast pace again, running through more side streets and back alleys searching for Imam. Knowing him, he would have gone to the nearest shelter. So that's where Riddick thought of looking first. On the way he saw some strange looking creatures with pink masks and cords attached to the back of them leading some soldiers on who were holding the cords. What the Hell are they? Pets? Riddick smiled and kept on going. He met a few of the invaders, and one of those pet things. Easy work for him. He saw Imam about 20 feet away. He made his way to him, and put down a few Necros in his way.

He saw some of the defenders holding off the Necros. So the city could fight well after all. One of the Necros, presumably the captain, jammed a staff in the ground. He was the last to die, but before he did so, Riddick saw him twist something and pull it down, activating the staff, sending up a blue ball into the air.

"I must get to my family," Imam said.

"When it's over," replied Riddick.

"No, I must get to my family!"

"When it's over!" growled Riddick in reply.

As if on cue, the floating ball expanded, then plummeted to earth, sending a massive shockwave around, nearly destroying the pillar which the two men were standing behind.

"Bloody Hell!" Riddick said, intrigued at the power.

Necros hiding in the alleys marched out and passed the broken bodies of the defenders. 'This really isn't their night' thought Riddick. He went with Imam to his family then walked off again in the dark. He started fighting another couple of Necros, unaware that Imam has just done something foolish to save his family; an act which would claim his life.

* * *

Imam led the Necromongers away from his family, going anywhere to keep his family safe. He ran through streets and back alleys. The sound of running feet in good order was coming behind him. He knew they were following him, which was what he wanted, although he had no idea how he would lose them again. He veered left heading up a street, but soon corrected that mistake as he saw a group of Necromongers heading his way.

He turned right, heading straight down a back alley. He had no idea where he was going, just running and heading as far away from his family as possible. There were Necromongers to the left and right of him, all minding their own business, taking down soldiers and rounding up citizens. Luckily there was no one on his way to encumber him on his retreat. But he soon regretted taking that turning when he came to a dead end in the shape of a dropped portcullis. He frantically looked around, looking for somewhere to go and his eyes settled on a ladder. He had no hope of going back as the sound of running feet was getting closer behind him. He saw no other option but to climb up the ladder.

He ran across the rooftop and hid behind a large vent. He watched down on the ground and saw the company of Necromongers approach. The leader; a large brute of a man with two poleaxe like weapons looked around. He then turned towards the ladder and threw one of his weapons into the wall. He masterfully climbed the ladder then looked around the roof.

Imam saw the large brute heading towards his hiding place. He knew he was going to be found, and most likely killed, so why not go down with honour. He stepped out of the hiding place and walked towards the captain.

"I have no trouble with dying, as I know where my soul will be going." He said as he closed the gap between himself and the captain, "Do you know where you will be going?"

At that he grabbed the large tooth on his necklace and thrust it towards the captain, who beat him to it and slammed the spike of his weapon into his chest. Imam stumbled clutching his wound. He made one final effort, but was again knocked back by the captain, sending him over the edge of the roof and plummeted to the floor.

Riddick got to the roof too late and saw blood spattered all over the top. At first he hoped that it wasn't Imam and that it was just some other person's blood. Then all his hope was dashed when he saw the body that was on the floor. An inconsolable rage welled up inside of him and he saw the person he suspected was responsible. A captain was leading his troops away from the scene. Riddick made a silent oath to avenge his friend's death.

* * *

He woke up. His head hurt as if he had been thrown into a wall. Oh wait, he had been. The last thing he remembered was seeing that torch-eyed man slicing his way through the ranks of his soldiers heading towards him. He tried to look round, but his vision was still blurred. He had no idea of how long he was unconscious for nor where he was since he couldn't make out anything. He may have been moved. His vision was slowly coming back to him, second by second he could see clearer, and the grey mist lifted from his eyes. He was suddenly aware of someone standing over him. He tried to sit up, but his body hurt terribly, especially his back. He guessed he had broken his ribs. He could hardly breathe because of the pain.

"Where am I?" He muttered through gritted teeth.

"The same place you were 10 minutes ago." A hard voice replied.

"Who are you?" the wounded captain asked after a minutes pause. He tried to make himself sound more formal, but only succeeded in sounding more in pain. There was no answer, but he could feel a pair of cold eyes glaring at him. His vision had more or less returned now. As he looked up he could see a cloaked figure standing over him. But more prominent was the pair of angry eyes that were literally shining. He was about to speak again when a tense feeling came over his throat, as if his trachea was being squeezed by some unseen force. In fact that was exactly what was happening.

He was lifted off his feet in front of the cloaked man. Though said man's arms were by his side.

"What do you want?" The captain asked, struggling for breath as well as the pain in his abdomen. "Who are you?"

"I wish to speak to your Lord Marshal. Tell him Voldan is here." The man named Voldan took something from his pocket and slipped it in between the captain's pauldron and breastplate. It was a thin piece of diamond shaped, lightning blue metal, and as far as the captain could see from here, had a lightning bolt in it. He wasn't given chance to say anything about it as he was thrown about 20 feet to the right, narrowly missing another wall.

The captain struggled to get up after that but he did, as he didn't want to look weak under the other man's pitiless gaze. He looked behind him and saw to both his relief and alarm that the other obvious soldier had disappeared. Was it a dream? He felt for the piece of metal that he'd given him, and he found that it was there. Also he could see his soldiers lying on the floor. How can one man do so much damage and take on so many highly trained soldiers and come out victorious? He daren't think about it. He pulled out the piece of steel from in between the plates. He saw that in fact it wasn't steel, but a smooth piece of metal that felt like silk to the touch. It was lightning blue in colour but from a distance looked like silver. In the centre of it was a lightning bolt over a laurel wreath which surrounded a sceptre with a circular head.

The captain had no idea what it was, but he did know that the Lord Marshal would be extremely angry about going back a failure, he probably wouldn't give him chance to explain himself, and he would probably just kill him on the spot. He had half the mind to throw this piece of metal away. It would probably bring nothing but trouble anyway. This Voldan bloke obviously didn't just want to chat with the Lord Marshal, if he wanted to do that, he wouldn't have attacked his troops and besides he looked too angry. He was just about to toss the thing when another fear came over him. If he threw it away, then the torch-eyed man might come back and kill him for sure, but he looked like a man who made his enemies suffer, whereas the Lord Marshal killed people who opposed him relatively swiftly.

He walked in the direction of his Lord's ship, it was still dark but with the pace he was going he guessed he wouldn't be there until the morning, and he was travelling at an agonisingly slow pace, his ribs radiated pain. But he was expecting to be hurting even more than this when he arrived before the Lord Marshal.

* * *

Voldan watched the captain of the Necro troops limp off. He knew he was contemplating throwing the metal plate away, but if he did he would have pounced on him and made him regret it. That plate was extremely precious to him, and it was something to remind the Lord Marshal of. He was glad when the captain put it away, and he turned and stalked off the roof. It was still night and there were more Necro heads to smash, besides, he needed to relocate Riddick.

He was aware that his eyes had dimmed to their usual colour of blue, the light had faded, as they only shone when he was angry. But he didn't mind, there was no one around to freak out or scare and they didn't help him see in the dark anyway. He jumped off the roof landing quietly and jogged off down a street.

There were no Necros down this street, he could hear them down another street which ran parallel to this one – the sound of fighting gave them away – but hadn't actually came into this street. He was actually glad of it, he liked to avoid getting angry if he could, but he knew it was unavoidable, especially with him as his anger was like a damaged bomb; it could go off at any given time, and with the slightest knock. He was hoping that he could get out of the street before any Necros came near him. But he hoped in vain. As he was exiting the street, he saw a company of them approaching. In fact, the force looked to be bigger than a company, more like a battalion of soldiers. He knew he was a good soldier, but even he would be out of his depth if he tried to take on, at the least, 500 soldiers at once. He tried to run in the opposite direction, but he found his way was blocked by a ship unloading another battalion of soldiers. There were tall buildings in front of him, he didn't want to go back and the enemy were either side of him, and by now the previous soldiers had noticed his presence and shouted a warning at him while speeding up to surround and arrest him. 'Shit' he thought. looking around he stood in a defensive position; in a wide low stance, his swordstaff across his body ready to slash at the first one who came close. He was looking for an escape route, as a soldier it was drilled into him, especially when pitted against overwhelming odds.

Just as he was about to slash at the lead Necromonger who was coming too close in his eagerness to arrest the man, who's eyes were again shining, an escape route presented it self in the form of a low flying ship that was, he estimated, about 5 metres off the ground and flying towards an empty patch to unload its troops. Voldan ran towards it, leaving the Necros behind screaming at him to halt. Some started firing at him but too late; he jumped, using his momentum. It was one of his abilities, to jump far and high, he could jump three times the length and height of the average man. He was putting those abilities to good use and landed on top of the spacecraft then jumped from there to the top of a tall building.

He looked back at the Necros, his eyes had once again dimmed but they could still see him looking at them. He gave a mocking salute to them then ran off, while they were flabbergasted at the feat they had just witnessed. They didn't know of anyone, other than their Lord Marshal, who could do that, in fact they didn't actually know whether their commander-in-chief could do that. Voldan relished in being able to do that to people. But he knew that doing things like that provoked questions, and he hated being asked questions.

He jumped off the top of the building and landed in amongst a group of New Meccan soldiers who jumped in fright at the sudden landing of a man, especially from that height. He was aware of their shock too and hid a smile, nodded a greeting and walked through the gap the shocked soldiers had made. They were only young, hardly out of childhood and definitely not ready for a war on this scale, but there was nothing he could do about that now. He needed to find Riddick, while killing as many of those bastards as he could on the way. If he could give some people a little bit of hope in the form of someone not afraid of the Necromongers then he would.

He saw a bunch Necromongers searching the streets, looking for soldiers. 'Well you've found one' he thought to himself. He then ran and attacked them quickly dispatching the soldiers. He forgot about the strange creature during his fight with the others, there were only five, but he soon remembered it and fired a blast of lightning at it killing it instantly and propelling it into the wall.

He kept moving and soon came to a dropped portcullis. He looked around; there was no one in sight, apart from one person who was lying dead on the floor. One of the only civilian casualties he had seen. He knelt next to him. there was something familiar about this man, as if he had seen him somewhere before, then he suddenly remembered; he was one of the people he saw with Riddick back at that house. Voldan grimaced, he looked around looking for a sign of Riddick, but there was nothing. He suddenly felt tired and felt as though he couldn't keep his eyes open. There was nothing else he could do this night; one man couldn't take on the might of the Necromongers. He just hoped that the precious Lord Marshal of theirs got the message. But for now, he found a dark place hidden behind some rubble and fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

He woke up to the sound of feet going past and voices talking merrily as if they had just came back from a show. Some of the voices were chatting about the events of the night; others were talking about something completely off topic. It sounded like a whole battalion was marching past, and by the sounds of them, they were relatively young. Some of the voices had hardly broken, a clear sign that some were still children; children in a war. Some of the voices sounded more experienced, but over all the noises were the shouts and screams of sergeants keeping them in order, telling them to keep up the pace and screaming at the people they caught talking to shut up.

Voldan looked out. He was relatively safe form being seen as he was in a place that was completely dark, so he had no worries about being curious. The voices belonged to Necromongers; they were marching past, possibly going to fight more soldiers who were still resisting in the city. Then it hit him, it was quiet, too quiet. The fighting must have stopped, which meant only one thing, the Necros had won yet another battle. More converts for their army. He just hoped they hadn't conquered the whole world as he knew what would happen if they had, they would conduct the procedure they like to call the 'final' or 'ascension protocol', the same thing that had been done to his planet. He wouldn't let that happen even if it killed him; he would not let these bastards destroy another planet while he still had breath and while he was on that planet.

He saw a couple of Necros walk over to the body of the dark skinned man who was lying face down on the floor, some kicked his body, one of which did it testing if he was dead while the other kicked him maliciously. 'Damn these Necros,' Voldan thought, 'they think they're so bloody good, thinking they can travel to planets and kill who they can because they can.' Well he was someone who wasn't afraid of them, and who would, if he could, stop them from killing at will. He was watching the two soldiers start kicking the fallen body, kicking harder and harder, smiling as they did so, and every minute Voldan watched he got angrier and angrier, until he just couldn't bare it anymore.

He blasted out two massive bolts of lightning from his hands, burning immediate holes in their chests and striking some soldiers marching past behind them. Some of the Necros stood and gaped as the lifeless bodies fell limply to the floor, two great holes smouldering in their chests. There were a few others lying limp on the floor, massive burns showing on their skin which was showing through holes burnt through their armour. Others, the veterans, turned their guns in the general direction of where the blasts came from, the younger ones panicked, seeing forces at work which they had never seen before and sights that ones so young shouldn't have to see.

One soldier, a sergeant, shouted in the direction.

"Come out! There is nowhere to go! You are surrounded! If you don't come out, we will use force, force which may end in your death!" A voice replied which sounded like it came from the walls from all around them; such was the pitch and dynamics of it.

"If you use force, it will end in your death and your death only. I will kill you if you do not leave, and I will rip you apart if any of you venture near that body!" the voice rose menacingly, rebounding off every wall. The Sergeant obviously didn't heed this warning as he took another few steps toward the body. Suddenly the walls of the buildings and the floor started Vibrating violently, and the voice was louder and more commanding,

"This is your final warning! Leave now, or suffer the consequences!"

This was too much for the soldiers; the blasts of lightning, the shaking of the area and the threat from the God-like voice that boomed all about them. They broke and ran, running through all the back alleys, pushing each other to get a way from the God protected dead body. Voldan smiled; for once the ones who provoke fear were now afraid.

Once they had all left, Voldan walked out of his hiding place and looked around, making sure they had all left. He didn't want to be shot by hundreds of Necro guns. He knew they had the most advanced weaponry and technology in this particular galaxy. He couldn't take on that many enemies at once. He was still cautious in case there was any Necros hiding in the shadows, just like he had been. He listened to his senses, alert for any out of place noises, but mainly he was sensing for electricity, there wasn't that much around to interfere, since all the power had been cut by the Necros. He could sense the electricity in the ships over head, of people walking around, or marching, a couple of streets away but there was none where he was, unless they weren't moving, but there would still be a little bit there while thinking.

Once satisfied that there was no one around, he picked up his swordstaff and made his way across the city, jumping up a wall and running across the roofs again, trying to find Riddick. He jumped over streets easily, flying over the heads of marching Necros. A couple of them spotted him but he was gone before they could shout a warning. A couple of them did get to shout off a warning but were cut off in mid-sentence by a throwing knife thrown by Voldan while in the air.

He stopped in the middle of a roof and looked around. There was still no sign of Riddick anywhere, nor of that Elemental. There were Necromongers all over the place, swarming down streets like ants. The ships had landed in every free place with Necro soldiers standing guarding them. He also saw, from his vantage point on top of a roof, a large parade like thing not 15 minutes away, as the crow flies. There was squadron after squadron of fighter ships flying overhead in demonstration. He couldn't blame them, these soldiers were bound to be celebrating, and they had swept aside this army in one night, probably one of the easiest battles they had ever participated in.

He was just about to head over to the large parade, as he thought that if Riddick was anywhere he would be there or near there, and he was curious himself as to what was happening, when he heard a noise behind him. He turned round and saw a fighter ship which had broken off from its squadron heading towards him. He guessed the pilot had been told to see who it was that was on the roof. Voldan wasn't about to let him find out; he held out his hand, and in the centre, a bright, light blue light shone, quick and sharp. Straight after, the ship in front of him fell straight to earth, falling amidst a company of soldiers, crushing half of them. Voldan had sent out an electro magnetic pulse, cutting all electrics in the ship, leaving it defenceless and without any engines.

He watched the ship hit earth then turned and ran towards the parade, jumping across roofs and leaping over streets. He saw the parade getting closer, and as he approached he saw a procession in the centre with a heavily armoured figure at the head of the column. He was also aware of shapes appearing in the tops of the cruisers, though from that distance he couldn't make out what, not clearly anyway. They vaguely looked like faces, whether they were or not, he couldn't be certain. He stopped short of the parade, a couple of roofs away from the rear of the crowd, but was still close enough for his eyes to see clearly. The shapes in the ships were, in fact, faces; though whose it was he didn't know, but it wasn't hard to guess. He guessed it was the face of the man leading the procession, the Necro's precious Lord Marshal.

A low growl emanated from his throat, he was walking so calmly, so royally, he looked like he didn't care a single bit about the events of the night; he probably didn't, their Lord Marshal. His armour was glowing dully in the growing light, the soldiers and other arse-lickers behind him were also all clad in grey shiny armour. The barrels of their guns gleamed, the points of their pole-arms shone, they all looked like they were soldiers going to a celebratory party at a palace, never mind where they were actually going.

Voldan bit back the urge to charge forward and take out the Lord Marshal there and then with a throwing knife in his throat. Or even better, an arrow in his temple. He took his bow from the back of his belt and unfolded it, the lower and upper limbs unfolding from the grip. When they were unfolded, the string automatically fired from the top groove to the bottom, with the bung clipping into a hole in the bottom groove; all from the flick of the switch, which locked down to stop the process reversing itself. He held the bow in his right hand and drew an arrow from the thin quiver on the back of his belt, rested the titanium barbed arrowhead on the arrow rest and slid it along until the black feather fletchings, attached to the shaftment of the black carbon fibre shaft was at the front of the bow and notched it to the string on the nocking point on the serving.

He looked forward to see how far the procession was; they were well out of range. Besides it was too risky, there were, at estimation, about three thousand Necro soldiers down there, not to mention the number of squadrons of their fighters flying over head. He worked out the risk level of him trying his luck now: a 90% chance of him missing his target, and then getting pursued by every Necro soldier and fighter ship around to the end of the planet, which in the end would result in his death. It just wasn't worth the risk. He kept his arrow notched to the string and ran across the roof, following the procession. He was keeping his, now glowing, eyes on the side of the Lord Marshal, keeping in line with him.

The roofs were all joined so that a person could easily walk, or run, across. He didn't expect a gap, in fact he didn't see a gap, he was keeping his gaze fixed on his enemy, so it took him by surprise when he put his foot forward onto nothing and fell to the ground. What made it worse was that he fell right in the centre of a Necro battalion. He was aware of the gazes, he was also aware of himself blushing; he had never been so distracted before, not since he was younger anyway. He had embarrassed himself and, of course, blamed the Lord Marshal for it, just another reason to hate him. He stood up and brushed himself off. He almost laughed as he looked round at the faces of the Necromongers; the shocked and confused expressions were hilarious. The looks of shock soon vanished, and so did Voldans smirk, as the closest soldiers pointed their guns at him. 'Shit,' he thought, 'game over.' He couldn't fight his way out of this one.

He looked around the floor for his bow; if he was going to get arrested he didn't want to leave that here. Did they know how much it cost? Besides it was his favourite bow. It wasn't there! He must have dropped it on the rooftop when he fell.

"Oh, shit." he said aloud.

"Yes, and you are in deep mate." One of the Necros said, with a smirk. Voldan looked at the perpetrator and his eyes flashed, making said Necro move back. Voldan looked away from him and, as if by chance; his eyes fell on to his bow. But it was in the hands of a young Necro soldier who was playing around with it, fiddling about as if he had never seen anything like it before in all his young years. He probably hadn't, but that didn't mean he could man-handle his bow. Voldan surged forward and snatched his bow back.

"Thank you!" He said through gritted teeth.

It was an action the other soldiers obviously didn't like as they raised the butts of their guns to their shoulders and pointed them at Voldans head. It really wasn't working out for him. He didn't surrender; instead he took arrow from the string and replaced it in his quiver, then unlocked the button on the side of the grip by pressing it again and watched it refold then slipped that back in his belt next his quiver. A sharp pain stabbed at his back as a soldier smacked him with the butt of his gun. Then another used the butt of his gun and smacked him in the back of his knees, making him fall to the ground. Voldan growled, but somehow kept himself calm, a first, especially in one of these situations. It was as if they wanted to provoke his anger as another muzzle whipped him in the face, cutting him and drawing blood.

He was still trying to remain calm, he could feel the anger rising to dangerous levels, and his power was trying to show itself, but with the help of his pads and his own willpower, he managed to keep it down. But just then, the trickle of blood reached his lips, on instinct he tasted the liquid, which was a massive mistake on both his and Necros part, now there was no holding back his anger. His eyes shone brightly, lightning flashed all about him in a powerful electric field. The Necro's backed off, having never seen a sight like this before.

"WH-What are you?" asked the one who drew blood.

"I am the one you shouldn't have hit, you miserable fucking bastard." Voldan's voice had changed, it was now lower and sent chills down the spine of whoever he spoke to. All the Necros were scared, the only thought going through their head was: 'Oh shit, I think we nearly arrested the Lord Marshals brother."

It was easy to see why they had came to that conclusion, the Lord Marshal was the only other man in the universe they knew had 'special' powers. They had either forgotten or didn't know about the Battle for Brilbane, where over 7000 soldiers had powers, not including the commanders.

Voldan was gearing up for a massive surge of power that would fry most of the soldiers in this battalion, but also most likely leave him exhausted, when they were all distracted by someone shouting behind them. The Necros in front of Voldan looked behind them; there was someone on the roof, calling to them, what he was saying nobody apart from the people closest to him and Voldan could tell.

"What are you doing? Leave that poor man alone, there are soldiers down this street or had you forgot to do your duty?"

Most of the Necros looked outraged, some looked unconcerned and looked back to the lightning-enveloped man, who was now not a lightning-enveloped man, instead he was a happy man with a large, uncontrollable smile on his face. But that didn't stop him. Using his telekinesis, Voldan threw some Necromongers aside making a space for him to move through. He ran through this gap and jumped onto the top of a building and ran along, closely followed by the man who had made it possible for him to escape. He stopped half way across a roof and allowed the man, who was holding a swordstaff similar to his, to catch up. That's when it hit him, he looked around and realised he didn't have his swordstaff. Where had he put it? He had it when he drew his bow. 'Ah, that's where', he thought, 'I've left it back there.'

"You lose this?" The approaching man asked, Voldan didn't say anything, instead he smiled and embraced the other man who was a long time friend he thought was lost.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

He had been following him for a while, jumping from roof to roof and gliding across the gaps in the streets. But he forgot how hard it was following the fastest person of your race. He was chuffed to find that somebody else had survived from the destruction of Brilbane. He knew Voldan was off-world, but as he was escaping he saw Voldan's ship travelling down to Brilbane, and he knew there were still Necros on the planet, and he also knew what Voldan was like when he was attacked or even when he was angry.

He didn't know where he was going on this world, but he did see where his gaze was fixed; the head of the procession off to the left. He guessed that it was the Necromonger Lord Marshal that he saw out in front, and no doubt Voldan was seeking to take him out to 'settle the score', though with Voldan, the score is never truly settled.

He nearly burst out laughing when he saw Voldan fall off the roof; his expression was phenomenal, so strong was the shock. Voldan never made mistakes like that, he always took care to see where he was placing his feet, but his mind was probably so inundated by hate and anger that he didn't take any notice of the street ahead. But, although it was hilarious, he took care not to laugh aloud; he knew how Voldan would react: angrily – possibly murderously – then ecstatically when he realised that he wasn't the only one left from his home planet.

He ran to the edge expecting to see him sprawled on the floor or standing up brushing himself off, mortified, which probably would make him laugh out loud. But his smile soon left him when he saw where he had fallen. He had fallen in the midst of a Necromonger battalion, which, obviously, was not good, especially with his reputation of losing his cool at the slightest knock. But he was surprised at how he was keeping his temper under control. Under normal circumstances he would have 'blown his top' as they say, and killed most of the soldiers surrounding him, then possibly gotten himself killed, or seriously injured.

He was watching from the roof, expecting to see Voldan's temper boiling over at any moment, and as he knew him too well he could tell that he was getting angrier, just doing a Hell of a good job in keeping calm. He was even more surprised at how he was keeping calm when he was hit in the back and in the back of his knees. There was a flash in his eyes, but that was it. But then he was muzzle-whipped in the face. That would be the best thing to do to Voldan if you were intent on making him angry, but these soldiers didn't know Voldan when he was racked by anger. He saw the blood trickling towards his mouth, and once he tasted his blood, he exploded. There was no build up of anger like there usually was, and unlike usual, the electric field present wasn't as strong. The Necros backed off, startled by this sudden surge of power, which they couldn't contend with.

"Yeah, you had better bloody back off," he said under his breath. But he knew he had to step in before the most famous man of his race was destroyed. Enough Brilbanian blood had been spilt on their account. That's when he shouted down, partly to attract the Necro's attention but also to calm Voldan down, knowing how fast he can alternate from anger to calmness at the slightest thing.

He wasn't afraid of the soldiers, so he wasn't put off helping his friend and was glad when he saw said friend escape by jumping on a roof. He picked up the swordstaff, took a couple of steps back then, with the aid of a run-up, leaped across the roof. It wasn't that far, but he could only jump as far as the average human, unlike the soldier ahead of him. Voldan was only jogging slowly, allowing him to catch up. He saw him turn round and, with a smile, eyed the swordstaff suspiciously.

"You lose this?" he shouted, though Voldan didn't reply, just grinned wider then embraced him.

"How are you Voldan?" he asked, "I'm glad to see there is another who is still alive. I thought I was the last."

"I'm fine, especially now," Voldan's smile was only growing wider. "How are you Alzan? How did you escape from that planet?"

Alzan noticed how he called it 'that planet' instead if its proper name; Brilbane.

"I took my ship; I knew we weren't going to win that war, so I left." He paused. "Well, actually, I was forced. Zhyandress basically pushed into the cockpit telling me to go. Otherwise I would have stayed."

"I wish I had been there." Voldan said.

"It would have still been the same even if you had. Only you would have probably been killed."

"I would have died with honour."

"That may be so, but what about your family? They would need you."

"Alas, they have either been killed or taken by that scum." His eyes flashed but dimmed immediately.

"How do you know they have been killed or taken? Have you checked Orantrar Dechtri di Gastrio, the Last Refuge?"

"No, but did any actually escape to there? I mean look at this planet, if these have a refuge to go to, they didn't have the time to get there."

"True, but still it doesn't hurt to look. And besides, you were saying they might have been taken. How would you retrieve them or see them safe if you are dead?"

"Well, it is a waste of time going to them now, you know what it is they do, kill or convert, and you know as well as I do, there is no going back once converted."

"That doesn't mean you should give up hope. You should always hope."

"Even if that means you are hoping in vain?"

"Yes, what else does a person have to believe in? Not everyone is religious."

"But why believe when you know a situation is hopeless?"

"Now you surely do not think this situation is hopeless. If you did, you wouldn't be here."

"I am here for revenge." Voldan said coldly.

"Yes, but that is only some of the reason. I know you Voldan, you came here to find your family, if indeed they did take them. You still hope that you can save them."

Voldan shrugged, and then changed the subject.

"Enough about me and all my woefulness," he said, "tell me your story, what happened while I was away? Where did you go and do after you escaped? How many commanders are left?"

The two had a long conversation as they walked, and Voldan had temporarily forgotten about Riddick while listening to Alzan's tale. He heard of the battle of Abdul di'Zintriach, of some things that warmed his heart and others that broke it. He told him of the battles of the outer defences, and of how they had been pushed back to the second defences.

"The Mortal soldiers," which are what the elite and the Commanders call the normal soldiers, "had held up a valiant defence at Glastric Bedonahagh. I and my air brigade had kept most of the Necros at bay; we were winning. Though they had strength in numbers, their pilots were nowhere near as skilled as ours, and their ships can't match the speed and power of ours."

"Aye we did a good job on them, didn't we?" Voldan said. He and Alzan were people who designed the ships and oversaw their construction.

"Yes we had. They were possibly our best work, other than the training of your brigade."

"And your pilots. It was you that had trained them."

"Yes, we have both done well with our men. But back to what I was saying. We were winning but eventually, and inevitably, the greater numbers prevailed and they broke through our air defences, destroying Il-alazad Vectriae-Teldrion on their way down with those large cruisers they have. The hammer-stroke fell heaviest on Abdul di'Zintriach, and our soldiers in the outer defences were put hard to it to defend their fortresses. The Necros attacked with force and greatly outnumbered Hermione's brigade at the outer fort. The soldiers there retreated to the second stronghold of Glastric Fulismheagh, where as you will have guessed, they joined..."

"Avriole's first brigade," Voldan interrupted.

"Yes, don't interrupt! But you are right, but still the Necromongers overwhelmed them, and so much so that Zhyandress called the reserve airmen, armed them and told them to go and reinforce the soldiers. But even then there weren't enough, it only succeeded in weakening our air force. There was only one thing they could do; pull back to Rolar Gastric Decstrion."

"The last defence? But there is no way out from there, save via the hangar, but that is not nearly big enough to hold the large cruisers."

"There was nothing else to do; The Necromongers were swarming over them like ants over a carcass. Then, what remained of the two brigades had joined with the first brigade of the palace guard, your brigade and Hermione's second brigade. A 3 deep line was created and long it was. The Necros thought they could beat us there, but they were pushed back. However, they returned not long after with reinforcements, and attacked in two columns with twice the number of the last. There were hard put to it again, but our forces did push them back again, though we did suffer significant losses."

"I wish I had been there," Voldan said again.

"As I said before there was nothing even you could have done, their numbers were too great." Alzan paused. "There was a break in which we replenished our ranks, closing up the gaps created and lengthening the line with another brigade, Avriole's second. But again the Necromongers attacked with twice the numbers. They noticed how we nearly broke on their previous assault but were encouraged to fight by the sight of your brigade. They were fighting valiantly, valorously and vigorously. Fighting with determination that would encourage all allies to fight and encouraged a surging hope that even I felt. The Necromongers sent most of their force to attack the Nelrarnah brigade. They are good soldiers, but with such a heavy weight on them even they could not stand against it."

"You're telling me they broke?" Voldan asked.

"No, they didn't break, but they would have if Zhyandress himself didn't step in. They Necromongers could not stand-up against the strength of him or of the skill in which he wielded his great sword."

"What? Tachleánagh? 1 Aye he does wield that with some skill like, doesn't he? I wouldn't like to be caught in the way of one of his swings." Voldan laughed.

"Neither would I," replied Alzan. "But even with Zhyandress there, the numbers were still too great, and the others were occupied with other columns that were attacking them. It was only when Davrun stepped up that they fled, since he blasted out a massive wave of fire which incinerated the first few ranks completely, fatally burned the next few behind and burned, seriously or not, the ranks behind them. The Necros were frightened by that and turned tail and ran. It was then that Zhyandress collected all the forces in the area, your second brigade of Nelrarnah, my Field Guards, and other reserve brigades, lengthening the line and thickening with another 2 ranks. But the next time they attacked, they attacked with so many columns that they all merged into one to create one massive battering ram, aimed straight towards our line.

"We knew that this was the Necros at their full strength basically and that we didn't have a chance, even with your feared Nelrarnah brigades. When they attacked, they attacked hard, not one soldier in our line was unoccupied. Zhyandress placed us at the front so that we could help defend our soldiers. We were taking heavy casualties, we knew we were hurting them, I mean with a bloody big target like that you can't miss can you?" Alzan laughed then his face turned grim, "We were hurting them, but it didn't look like it. Every man we put down another immediately took his place, so there was no change, the same as in the air, in the later stages there were something like ten ships to our every one."

"That is bad." Voldan said grimly.

"But there is worse. We were losing soldiers quickly and everywhere along the line large gaps emerged that we didn't have the numbers to fill. Our soldiers were losing confidence with every minute and I could see they were tempted to started edging back, the only thing that prevented them from doing so was the fact that we were up front. But even that turned ill. We did lose a couple of Commanders to that assault. You're not going to like this, but Hermione was the first one to die. A Necromonger sergeant stabbed her through her heart with a spear."

A look of anguish spread over Voldan's face, his eyes glowed with a light that Alzan had never seen before, it was not like it was when he was angry, this light was brighter, but cloudy, and tears ran down his face. Alzan had never seen Voldan upset before, but he had every right to be. Hermione was like a sister to him, so close were they in personality and everything else that some people even made the mistake of calling them twins. But Alzan had more news to tell that he knew would rip Voldan apart, and he knew he had to find the right words otherwise, in his anger, and anguish, he may end up doing something he would regret.

"There is still more to tell, but not much now. Our soldiers were dwindling and so were our own numbers, as not five minutes after Hermione was lost to the enemy that Avriole was killed, her head was severed from her body from an axe swing of a Necro-Captain. Once we were reinforced, we had more than fifteen thousand, but we were reduced to less than 7 thousand in the last attack, but that number was falling rapidly. It was only when we had just over a quarter of our force left that Zhyandress ordered Davrun and I to flee, and as you know, one does not argue with him when he gives an order."

"Tell me about it, I have done more than enough times." Voldan said with a slight smirk, though the grief was still ripe in him.

"As we started on our retreat an attack which had subsided a bit, for some reason I do not know, was renewed with more power, as if they knew that soldiers were planning an escape and they wanted to stop us. They probably did. That's when the main disaster struck. It was when we had came to the hangar and I turned round that I noticed Davrun was missing," Alzan noticed a look of worse anguish spread across his friend's face, it was at this time when Alzan knew he must tread carefully. "I thought that he had turned back to help Zhyandress with the fight, but as I retraced my steps, he was nowhere to be found, he wasn't fighting, he wasn't lying injured, he had just disappeared. I didn't dare move any further forward than I already had because if Zhyandress had seen me he would have bodily thrown me into the hangar. I fled to my ship taking some soldiers with me; I made some calls to cruisers and told them to wait at the back of the hangar for the soldiers to retreat, as I knew that Zhyandress would be passing the word around the colonels for them to make for the hangars. I took the nearest soldiers to me and went in my ship to go to Helion Prime, as that was a planet which I had always wanted to visit. When we left the atmosphere I saw your ship approaching, though I doubt you saw me. It was a Parsec away at the least when I saw you but it was too late for Brilbane as they had executed their Ascension Protocol and destroyed what life was left on the planet. Whether the cruiser had left in time I do not know, but I do know that Zhyandress was killed and that a lot of the civilians left to our last refuge."

He noticed that Voldan wasn't listening. He realised that he was furious as well as distraught; a deadly, potent mix. Voldan's eyes were shining like bolts of lightning themselves, his body was flashing with lightning in an electric field, tears ran down his cheeks and he squeezed the shaft of his swordstaff.

"Their Lord Marshal is going to pay. Mark my words, Alzan. I will rip him limb from accursed fucking disgusting limb. He kills Hermione then somehow obliterates Davrun, my friend upon friends, the closest friend I have ever had, my brother! I shall destroy that vile wretched little insect and cast the shreds of him into the very peaks of oblivion. Even if it fucking kills me!" His voice was growing louder and louder with every word until he screamed the last in an uncontrollable rage. He made to charge along the roofs. If Alzan didn't act now, then he knew that Voldan would do something stupid, and if Voldan moved at his full pace, nothing except the speed of light could catch him, even though he can only go full speed for, at the least, five minutes before he'd become absolutely exhausted. All the same, Alzan knew he must calm him down, and now.

* * *

Tachleánagh was the name of Zhyandress's Great sword, which stands for body-crusher in Brilbanian.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Wait, Voldan. If you go after him now, the chances are that you will not get close to the Lord Marshal before you get cut down. You must think about what you are doing. Don't go in all guns blazing without an action plan or escape route."

"Escape route? What makes you think I need an escape route? Did you not hear what I said? I will take his miserable fucking head even if I get killed in the process!"

"You will not make it even to within 3 metres of him."

"You underestimate me Alzan. I will be in there and he will be dead before the noise of my thunder has been heard."

"But it is not The Lord Marshall who is to blame for the destruction of Brilbane, he wasn't there, he appointed someone else to lead a couple of his divisions at us while he was occupied with another planet."

"How do you know this?"

"Because unlike you, I do research. What good is it going to kill your target when you don't know who your target is?"

"Then you kill every other mother-fucker there until you do find him!"

"No you don't because then your target will know and slip away when your back is turned."

"I would sense him."

"Not over all the other movement you wouldn't. That is why you need to research."

"Do you know who is responsible?"

"Yes I do, but I refuse to tell you any more until you calm down!"

"Tell me now! Otherwise you will meet the same fate as every Necro here."

"Then so be it. If you wish to kill me because you are angry then do it, but you will regret it once you have."

Luckily for Alzan, Voldan was as quick to calm down as he was to anger. He calmed down and the light faded in his eyes leaving them the normal sky-blue. For a while they walked in silence, going slowly. They could see the procession advancing far ahead, though it was too late for Voldan to kill his prey now. Besides, if what Alzan said was true then his anger was fixed upon one of the generals, though who, he did not know. Voldan finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry."

"Not to worry. I know what you are like, your anger takes control and you don't think about things, you just do them on impulse and instinct. That's why you are so unpredictable."

"Well you know me; I like to keep people guessing. So do you have any idea who this commander is, or did you just say that to calm me down."

"A bit of both actually. I knew the only way I could calm you down was to either knock you off course or to console you, but I have always found it easier to undertake the former." Voldan laughed, he knew what he was like when he was angry, but he just couldn't help it. As Alzan had said, the anger takes control of him, and he was right: he didn't think about things; he just went ahead and did it.

"So who is it?"

"I will not tell you yet."

"Why not tell me? I have calmed down now."

"Yes, at the minute. All I would have to do is tell you who is responsible and you would light up again only this time I would not be able to hold you back. You would be too determined."

"Okay, I understand, but will you tell me later?"

"Yes, I will tell you later, but for now there is something I want to do. You will probably want to come too."

"What do you want to do? Where do I want to go?"

"The Lord Marshal is holding a meeting for some of the citizens of New Mecca; I guess he is going to persuade them to join him."

"And if they don't he'll kill them, right?"

"Exactly, and I want to see how that turns out."

"Aye, and also I sent him a message; I want to see what he thinks of it?"

"And what message may that be?"

"Just a little something to tell him that his enemies are catching up with him, that is if the messenger reaches him. He was in a pretty bad state when I sent him on his way," Voldan said with a devilish gleam in his eyes.

"You're doing I suppose?" Alzan asked, smiling.

"Maybe," Voldan replied.

They picked up the pace and followed the procession, who were now nearly out of sight. They were jumping across roofs and leaping over streets. Alzan was nearly being left behind as he could not match Voldan's pace or his jump length, but as he realised, he slowed down letting him catch up.

They were running for at least 15 minutes when they came to what they guessed was the city hall. There were Necros walking in to it, through various entrances, though there was no sign of the Lord Marshal. Voldan guessed he was already inside. He and Alzan jumped from the roof, knowing they couldn't go any further other than at ground level. The made sure their hoods were pulled low over their faces so as to make sure that they weren't recognisable, even though they doubted anyone would other than the Brilbanian soldiers which were already inside the hall, also hooded and cloaked, hiding their weapons. Alzan had 'forgotten' to mention them to Voldan.

The two men walked into the hall and stood at the back. Looking around they saw a platoon of Necromongers guarding the exits and entrances, though they were more interested in the man standing on the pedestal in the centre. There were people sitting all around this man. They were of different cultures and races. Yet they were all standing as one listening to a man below the Lord Marshal speaking of equality and fraternity and liberty.

The two men looked around; the civilians were sitting on tiers all facing the pedestal, on which they guessed the Mayor or King or Duke or whatever they have here would stand on to address the lords and such. The hall was beautiful, if indeed a bit tattered, but what can one expect from an onslaught such as last night's. The people all looked weary and frightened, as well they should be; the Necros were a fearsome people, not caring who they killed or converted. They were all listening to the man in front of the heavily armoured man on the pedestal, who Voldan guessed was the Lord Marshal. He was barely holding back the sniggers of some of the promises that the man made. Some nearby Necros looked at him with distaste, hearing his sniggers but Voldan just met their eyes and sniggered again when they turned away.

The Lord Marshal started talking, his voice was harsh and pitiless and mocking, and trying to intimidate the people into thinking they were of smaller stature then the Necromongers. He was looking around as he spoke and Voldan became aware that he had faces on the sides of his helmet.

"Everyone of my legion vast was once like you, fought as feebly as you." Voldan growled in his throat, listening to the condescension of this bastard. "They swept your forces aside in one night." Voldan didn't hear any more, he had been distracted by a movement to his left; a soldier limped in guarded by two other soldiers. Voldan smiled, recognising him immediately. It was the emissary that he had sent. His attention was brought back to the centre of the room when some of the civilians started to revolt, one man in particular, with messy blond hair and a bruise on his cheek above a blond beard.

"None of us here will do what you ask. It is unthinkable, and we cannot and will not renounce our faiths." The Lord Marshal had started walking down to meet the man, and he said something barely perceptible other than to Voldan's ears.

"Then I will take your soul."

As he said that he thrust his hand through the man's chest, though it had turned ghostlike and left no marks whatsoever, but when he passed the man, he was holding the man's spirit in his hand. The man tried in a vain attempt to reclaim it but collapsed in the process. The Lord Marshal literally threw his spirit in the dust. Voldan lurched forward, aghast at the feat he had just seen. 'What the fuck is he?' he thought. Some of the Necros looked at him contentedly.

Frightened into submission all around, other than Voldan, Alzan and about 10 people all cloaked, people bowed down to the Lord Marshal. The 10 other cloaked men left the hall without being noticed, that was when Voldan noticed another cloaked figure at the opposite end of the hall, unfortunately, another soldier, who had an air of authority about him noticed the cloaked figure too and started towards him, but said something barely audible to the other side of the room.

"You will do well to bow to the Lord."

"I bow to no man." Was the man's reply; that had now shown himself as Riddick, much to Voldan's amazement.

The other soldier took off his helmet, showing hair that was shaved at the sides but extended down his back at the back.

"He is not a man. He is the Holy Half Dead who has seen the Underverse."

'Ooh, freaky' thought Voldan, with a smirk.

"I will take a piece of him, though." Riddick said pointing at a man who held 2 pole-axe-like weapons in his hands.

"A piece you shall have." The soldier replied, the challenged soldier slammed his weapon together in sign of what he thought was intimidation. Voldan scoffed at this, making Alzan smile. They were standing in the shadows, and as yet had not been seen. Or if they had, they had been forgotten. The fight broke out between the large brute of a man and Riddick, though as soon as it had begun it was over. Voldan was impressed at Riddick's skill and speed. It was amazing. The Lord Marshal made his way to Riddick and grabbed the knife that was impaled in the fallen soldier's body.

"What do you make of this blade?" he asked Riddick as he approached.

"Shit, probably." Voldan said quietly, making the normally composed Alzan utter a chuckle. Some of the Necros around him glared at the two men. Voldan gave them a sign of the infamous two fingers, which enraged the two men. And they started forward. Voldan missed Riddick's reply, but heard the Lord Marshal's words clearly.

"In our faith, you keep what you kill." He thrust the blade into Riddick's hands and squeezed it tightly.

"Take him to my ship for mind regression!" He ordered.

Then suddenly, another shout made him whip round again and he noticed 2 men who he had not noticed before.

"Why did you not bow? Who are you to not bow?" The soldier's voice was harsh and unforgiving, his skin was dark and he was about as tall as Voldan, who just smirked at him.

"Bow to him? You're having a laugh! Even if my legs were broken I wouldn't bow to that tyrant!"

"What!? If you will not bow, I will make you bow." The dark skinned man said.

"You will not! I swear to Voltriamë, if you touch me, it will be the last thing you ever do." His eyes flared, and the closer the soldier in front looked, he could begin to see lightning bolts in them. Alzan flinched when he heard him say that, it was rare that Voldan mentioned his God, the one whom all of the Brilbanians believe is reincarnated into Voldan, and when he did then the people who knew him knew there was trouble abroad. The soldier didn't take any notice though and moved to strike Voldan, who just pushed him back with enough force to send him to the floor. The Lord Marshal started forward, but Voldan turned to him.

"Seek me out in a couple of days, after you have received your message." He made a side glance, filled with danger and malice and cunning, at the injured 'emissary'. Then he and Alzan retreated from the city hall.

All in all, Alzan was impressed with Voldan's performance; normally he wouldn't think twice about slitting the throat of someone who attacked him, and he was very composed in front of the Lord Marshal which also surprised him as he had been out for his head for ages. But then he remembered something that Voldan said and was confused by it.

"You said for the Lord Marshal to seek you out when he received his message. What did you mean by that? What message?" he asked his Electrokinetic friend when they were far enough from the city hall and curious ears.

"I have sent him a message. That is all, and once he has seen that message then he can seek me out."

"Yes well I guessed that. Wait, you said 'once he has seen that message'. What do you me-" He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the look on his friends face. "Oh no Voldan, please tell me you didn't. You didn't send him one of the Askivorach did you?"

"Yes I did, and what he shall see is for his eyes only, as you well know, and I will not reveal it to you. In due time I will."

"But as I know you, I know that the message you have sent him will not be pleasant, especially as he has wronged you, or as you think he has. This could be dangerous for you."

"Oh you're right, Alzan; the message I have sent him is not pleasant, far from it. In short, it is a glimpse of the pain that we suffered, and something which is designed to hurt his Majesty," he said the last in a mocking voice.

"But Voldan, the Askivorach is designed to link with the brain! Have you done anything that will physically hurt him because he does not strike me as the sort of person who gives way to emotions."

"Like I said, I will reveal all in due time. But for now, the only recipient is going to be him and him alone."

"So what are you going to do? Wait around while he does whatever he is going to do to Riddick and until he comes looking for you?"

"First of all, I am not here for Riddick's sake. I have been told to make him an ally, not to get him out of situations he has got himself into. For now, I am going back to my ship to sharpen my knives, clean my armour, have a rest and some refreshments. I'm parched and starved."

Alzan laughed, though his face was still troubled. "I don't think you should leave Riddick alone like this, if what this voice told you were true, then Riddick is the only man who can kill the Lord Marshal. And where is your ship? If it is closer than mine, I shall join you."

It was Voldan's turn to laugh. "It is on the outskirts of the city, so you are welcome to join me. And Riddick may be the only one who can beat him because of a prophesy, but he can still look after himself. At the minute I don't think he is any harm, I think the Lord Marshal will only be questioning him about what happened in the city hall and about who he is, and where he is from, but I find it hardly likely that he will give away his upbringing or place of birth."

"I am just uneasy with this whole charade. I have heard of machines he uses to get inside the heads of his captives to get information from him, and that no one can resist them, not for long anyway."

Voldan now looked uneasy. "I know that Riddick can handle himself, but now I understand your concern; if this prophecy is true and Riddick gets killed because of his own foolishness, then the Lord Marshal will believe himself to be indestructible and his reign of terror will never end." Voldan's brow was furrowed. "I must help him, but I am too weary. I haven't slept well for a week or so and I was fighting all last night. I need a rest and something to eat, and my blades need sharpening if I am to do aught else."

"I understand."

"I will clean my armour, quench my thirst and hunger and clean and sharpen my blades, then I shall go and help Riddick if he still has need of it. If I can just make him an ally against this tyrant it will be a victory, but I plan to make the lord pay for the destruction of Brilbane."

"That is what I was trying to tell you, Voldan. The lord ordered the attack on our home-world, but he did not lead it. It was his commander, Toll, who had led them."

"I have no idea who that is." Voldan said, "But whoever it was is going to pay dearly for the people that have been lost and killed. I will show him the true power of lightning for the loss of Davrun." His eyes flashed then dimmed instantly.

He smiled as if he hadn't even been angry. "Right, let's go and get some food." Alzan laughed and they jumped onto a roof in front of them, well, Voldan jumped up in one leap, from floor to roof top, Alzan took two leaps to the roof, propelling himself up with a foot on the wall, and ran to the outskirts of the city to refresh themselves.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

He looked at the man that was standing in the middle of the ring. He was looking this way and that, the way a caged animal would be; looking for a way out and looking for the first person to wander too close. He looked at on of his Necros and nodded, this person then flipped a switch and five shell-like enclosures came down one on each side of the prisoner.

Quasi-Deads they were called and they were a tool used by the Lord Marshal to interrogate his prisoners. They could tap into the mind and seek the thoughts of a prisoner, learning all they wanted by delving deeper through the minds history while inflicting as much pain as they could to those who resisted.

These were now going to interrogate the prisoner. The lord marshal saw the man fall to his knees as they started then his face was wrought with pain and defiance as he tried to block the Quasi-deads out. 'Ah,' the lord said, 'this is going to be painful.' He smirked at the man and waited for information to come.

"We are picking up thoughts of a planet," they said, "The name is unknown. We pick up thoughts of bat creatures." The lord frowned; he wanted more information than this. One of his aides saw his expression and called to the Quasi-deads.

"Delve deeper! The lord wants more information than that!"

"We are now picking up thoughts of a girl, Jack." They said as they scoured the prisoner's memory of that planet. "Riddick."

The Lord Marshal looked up from the ground, whence he was looking before in thought.

"Where does he come from, what is he doing here, these are things I want to know." He said exasperatedly.

"We are now picking up thoughts of an elemental." They said as if he hadn't even uttered a word. They were cycling through the conversation that had undergone between Riddick, Aereon Imam and the other priests. They came upon one of the words that had been spoken and said it aloud. "Furyans."

"Where does he come from, that is what I would like to know!" The lord marshal said again, though the quaver in his voice and the furrowed expression on his face showed that he was intrigued at how this man called Riddick knew about Furyans, but it also returned unwanted fears and memories. But he consoled himself on the fact that he killed every Furyan that lived on Furya.

"He is a Furyan, Furyan survivor." The Quasi-deads said, "Kill the Furyan. Kill the Riddick. Kill the Riddick. Kill the Riddick!" there voices rose to a cacophony of screams and they screamed the last words.

"Kill Riddick!" the lord marshal said angrily, though fear shone in his eyes.

Soldiers jumped into the ring, but just as they did so the lord's aide flipped the switch again and the power deteriorated and the five shells rose back up again. The soldiers ran at Riddick but the lord marshal noted his skill again as he saw Riddick easily killing or hurting the Necros as they came. He was relieved though when he saw Vaako, one of his best commanders, jump into the ring to help the soldiers.

The lord's hope was diminished once again however as he saw Riddick snatch one of the soldiers guns and shoot Vaako making him hurtle back the way he came and crash into another Necro. Then using the little gap he had made, Riddick jumped on top of one of the retreating shells and slinked away.

…..

He found himself in a narrow tunnel that was barely tall enough for him to stand in. he didn't know which direction to go in, the tunnel ran left and right. He guessed by the smell of it that it was a sewage pipe, and from what he could see, which was quite clear, it definitely was as there were solid shapes moving in the water, if of course that was what it was.

He decided to go left, he didn't know why, there were no clear signs for why he chose that way; he just had a feeling about it. He walked down, his body bent slightly to fit into the tunnel, which seemed to get narrower. He was walking for God knows how long and all the while he could feel things brushing past his feet.

Riddick was glad of his night-vision, he liked to see where he was going, especially in these situations; he didn't want to walk into some unpleasant thing that may be dangling from the ceiling.

"I hate that lord marshal" he said to no one in particular.

As he progressed through the pipe the diameter shrunk. It got to a point where he thought he had chosen to go the wrong way as he had to crouch lower and lower to the point of nearly crawling. Then he gasped in irritation as he saw a wall in front of him.

"Shit!" he cursed, "Fuck me! I have to go all the way fucking back. Damn this bastard ship and all the Necro bastards in it!"

He looked around trying to see if there was no where to go. There wasn't. He cursed again, but just as he was about go back he heard a hollow noise come from where he put his foot. He looked down and relief flowed through his body as he saw a hatch there. He breathed a sigh of relief that he was finally going to get out of this stinking shit-hole, but just as he did so he regretted for he tasted the stench.

He bent down and felt around the hatch, groping all the way around the crack and searching through the filth for anything on the top. He saw, and felt, what he was looking for after a bit of groping, the handle for the hatch. As he opened it a gush of fresh air wafted into his face. Just what he was hoping for, he had a sinking suspicion that this hatch led to another tunnel. He dropped out of the hatch and crawled out from under the lord marshals ship then once out, ran.

He had no idea where he was going, at all; he just wanted to get a way from that stinking ship. He was running through streets, always looking around for Necros, he didn't want to get captured again; he would smash some skulls if he needed to. As he came round the corner coming into another, wider street, he heard the noise he was dreading, a Necro ship, notable because of the sound of the engines, was coming behind, and low too. He sprinted although he knew he couldn't get away from the ship.

But as he ran into the street he saw, to dismay, that there were no other streets around, he had run into a cul-de-sac. He knew he couldn't turn and run back the way he came as the ship was still chasing him. 'Oh shit!' he thought, 'just what I fucking need!' Then there was another noise coming from behind him. At first, he thought that it was another Necro ship, but as he looked back he saw a rocket flying through the air, soaring towards the oncoming ship. It struck right on the side, then two more seared up through the air, one struck the underside of the ship, the other hit the opposite side. All were expertly taken shots and brought the ship plummeting to the ground over Riddick's head.

He looked around and saw the people responsible for helping him, but as recognition hit him, all thoughts of gratefulness left his mind. There were five cloaked figures there, one of them he recognised instantly, and it was that one that spoke.

"You made two mistakes. First, you left the tracking beacon on in my ship, the one you stole. And second and this is really the most important part. You should have ghosted me when you had the chance." Toombs said.

Riddick grimaced and he searched through the crew, none of them were there from the old crew and more importantly, the ominous looking man who wore the black hood was not there, he was strong, maybe as strong as Riddick, maybe stronger, he was also cunning, just like Riddick, 'he would make a good friend, if he wasn't chasing me' he thought. Then all his thoughts were cut short as a net gun was fired at him at Toombs' command.

…..

"So what are you going to do?" Alzan asked Voldan while eating a meal of grilled steak with long golden fried chips and peas which Voldan had just cooked for them.

"I'm going to sharpen and clean my blades then I'm going to rest and before I do any of that, I'm going to eat my dinner."

"I mean about Riddick." Alzan said in reproof, his voice stern.

"When I am rested and refreshed I will go and see if he needs help." Voldan said nonchalantly.

"You say it as if he is redecorating his home. He has been taken by the Lord Marshal, you know, your enemy? Are you just going to sit there while he does things unimaginable to him?"

Voldans eyes flashed. "What are you insinuating Voldan?"

"I am not insinuating anything, all I am saying is: while you are resting, Riddick could be in terrible pain."

"Yes. But I am no good to him, or myself, if I am weary, am I?" Voldan said angrily, "If their Lord Marshal is as powerful as they make out to be, I will need all of my strength."

"But you are not going to fight him; you are going to rescue Riddick."

"I doubt very much that Riddick needs rescuing, he may need a helping hand." Voldan replied. "But I need to prepare for all circumstances, what if Riddick is with the Lord Marshal; do you think he will give him up to me just because I am not there to fight him? Of course he won't!"

"Yes well, you mustn't rest for too long. Who knows what may be happening to that poor soul in there." Voldan nearly choked on his steak.

"Poor soul? Have you heard yourself Alzan? He is a convict, a murderer, a thief, a fraudster and who knows what else, Voltriamë, The last thing he is, is a _poor soul_."

"Alright, alright, I am sorry. I just don't like people suffering."

"I doubt he is suffering. You are not the only one who does research, my friend. I have looked into Riddick's past. He has been arrested and taken to different prisons all around the galaxy, all of them varying in security levels. He has escaped from a maximum security prison before. I don't think he will have any problem getting off that ship."

"You said you would go and help him."

"Yes, I know, and I will stick to that, I am a man of my word, Alzan, you of all people should know that. And like I said, I will make him pay for the destruction of Brilbane, whether he led it or not, he still ordered the attack."

"You also said you would leave after you have eaten and drank."

"And cleaned and sharpened my blades. Stop rushing me Alzan, when the lord sees the message I have sent him, he will put things on hold. Besides, like I said, Riddick can look after himself, all he will need is a diversion to allow him to escape, and I can give him that. Now can I eat my dinner? It is going cold."

Voldan finished his food then drew his fighting knives. He put them in to a slot in his ship which once a button was pressed, a low soothing noise emanated. It took a minute and after the blades were scanned for dirt the machine beeped telling Voldan they were ready. He took the blades and replaced them with his sword and did the same thing, while he took a sharpener from a hidden compartment and ran it along his blades. Sparks flew from them as the knurled rod of iron scraped up the edges. Voldan preferred doing those jobs himself so he could see how sharp it was.

Another beep signalled that his sword was clean. He whipped the blade of his knife clean of dust and filings then slipped it in its sheath by his side. He walked over to the machine and drew his sword. He slipped the sword in its scabbard and walked over to his other knife. He sat down and picked it up then looking at Alzan he said:

"That's the beauty of this sword, Detrivíglök, the blade never blunts." Alzan smiled and watched Voldan systematically sharpening the blade of his second knife. When he was done he slipped it back in his sheath, the removed his armour, with all his weapons still attached and started cleaning it, breastplate, back-plate and vambraces, then took out some spaulders from the armour cupboard and put them with his armour suit. He was also tempted to take his helmet. It was his favourite helmet, which separated him from the rest of his race, of which he was captain. It was a Draktün helmet, so was the armour which he was cleaning, only unlike other Draktün armour sets, his had nano-bots in to repair any damage taken to it and keeps its strength up. He decided against it, it would only encumber his vision, and in some circumstances he valued his vision over everything.

"So what exactly are you planning to do?" Alzan asked.

"I am planning to take that bastards head. And if that fails, at least I will have caused a big enough disturbance to allow Riddick to escape.

"Why does everything you do revolve around violence?"

"Have you got a better idea? Besides have you forgotten what I am?"

"Yes you are a soldier, and so am I, but that doesn't mean I love violence. Yes I admit, it is good to relieve anger, but that doesn't mean everything has to revolve around it."

"Yes I am a soldier, Alzan, but I am a Draktün, and more to the point I am the Captain of the Draktün. And what else can I do, walk up to him and ask him if he wants a cup of tea or wants to go to the nearest inn?"

"You are being asinine."

"No, I am not, Alzan, I am being realistic, nothing will work other than violence, a big enough disturbance needs to be created for the attention of Riddick's guards to be withdrawn. Besides, like I said, I am a Draktün. Violence is my specialty."

"You make it sound honourable, yet if we weren't here you would be in a maximum security prison by now."

"No guards will be able to hold me."

"That is what we fear, you will be on the run all of your life, and that is a very long time, considering you will not die of age."

"Neither will you old man." And Alzan was old for he was around to see the colonisation of Brilbane and to see even the First World War of Earth. He was nearly a thousand years old and by far the oldest Brilbanian to have ever lived and he had been in the past two generations of commanders, both times he was the same rank, but also the strongest, it was only in the third generation that his power was surpassed. But all of the commanders look to him for his opinion, especially on battle related matters as he had seen more than any of them had ever heard of. The only commander who could influence Alzan and his opinions of war is Voldan, for he was an excellent strategist, and had seen nearly as many battles as Alzan.

"I may be old, but with age comes experience, and I have seen as many of these situations for my fill, and I know exactly how this will end, you will go and you will be hurt, tyrants never fight their own battles, they get everyone else to do their dirty work."

"You know better than even Davrun what happens if I get hurt, you know what he will awaken inside of me."

"Yes I do, and that is what I am afraid of, you berserkers are all the same, when you are in a rage you are unstoppable unless you are killed. You are like wild beasts, once hurt you go berserk."

"Hence why we are berserkers, we are the Draktün, and one of us can do the work of ten men, and come out victorious."

By this time Voldan had finished cleaning his armour and was now fitting it on, closing the snaps and putting on his vambraces and gauntlets. The last thing he put on was his cloak clasping it to his shoulders, the black and silver leaf brooches shining in the light inside the ship.

"I'm ready to go. What are you going to do?"

"I'll come with you, but when you leave the ship, I'll stay and take the ship elsewhere, I don't fancy getting involved in another battle, especially in an enclosed space next to a Draktii." Voldan laughed then went to the control panel, pressing a large button which started the engines and pulled the lever to take off. Then turning the ship he flew off to the lord marshal's ship. To take his revenge.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The Lord Marshal was still stunned with the ease at which the man named Riddick had escaped. He had only been armed with a knife yet still he had defeated the soldiers that had gone to kill him. More to the point he had been revealed as a Furyan survivor, how that could be completely bewildered him, he was certain he had killed all the Furyans on that planet.

Then it was revealed that Riddick had some armed friends on this pitiful planet, as a transporter had caught sight of him and called in telling the Lord Marshal that they were in pursuit. This transporter had been shot down by Riddick's friends. He had sent out Vaako, one of his best commanders to locate and kill the renegade, but it still weighed heavily on his mind.

There was a commotion behind him and he turned to see an injured soldier walking, or rather stumbling, towards him. He recognised him as Buron, a captain who led the 6th company in his 12th battalion of the 1st division. This division and, in particular, the battalion, was one of the most renowned in his legions.

Captain Buron was also renowned as a fierce fighter, and one without fear, but the look on his face, and the look of him in general, spoke otherwise. He was clutching at his abdomen, his body was battered and bruised and there was a look of fear stretched across his face. Whether that was because he had failed or because of the person who had done this to him, the Lord Marshal was unsure.

"Well, Buron, what has happened to you? Been fighting I presume?"

"Yes, my lord, I have been fighting."

"That is what I like to, hear, tell me something, are the rumours I have heard true?"

"Rumours, lord?" Buron asked, he grimaced as his ribs hurt, fear flashed in his eyes.

"I have heard you led your company against one man. This _one_ man defeated your company, killing every one of the thirty in your command. Then this _one_ man came against you, but let you live. Why is that? Why did he let you live, yet kill all the rest of your company?" Realisation struck Buron. The Lord Marshal thought he was a traitor, thought he had sold his company out for execution and had turned on them himself.

"I don't know lord."

"You don't know? Well maybe I do." A smirk appeared on the lord's face. "You allowed this man to kill your men, told your men to stand down, then as they sought to defend themselves you turned on them also."

"No lord! Never! I would never betray you or your men, and certainly never the men who followed under my command."

"Then, pray tell me, why there were marks on the bodies from our own guns?"

"He took one of the weapons and used them against us." Buron's voice was quavering, he needed to tell the Lord Marshal about the message, even though he didn't know what that message was, but in this mood, the Lord Marshal would probably kill him on the spot if he did.

"That would all be well and good, Buron, if the injuries sustained came from the front, but as they were they came from behind, apparently you were behind your men, quivering when they were attacked, so that this man didn't hurt you."

"That's untrue, lord! I wasn't hiding, I never hide from anyone! I had been forced back; some unseen force lifted me up and threw me over the heads of my soldiers and into a wall, which is how I sustained my injuries."

The room was silent, everyone was plain faced as they heard this, then suddenly there was a guffaw of laughter from everyone present, even the dark skinned commander, Toll, was braying with laughter. As the laughter ceased, the Lord Marshal asked,

"So who is this man who commands unseen forces?" there was another chuckle which went around the room. The Lord Marshal held up his hand to quell the inevitable uproar of laughter.

"The man from the city hall, the one who faced Toll, he is the man who attacked us."

The lord's face darkened as realization struck him like a haddock in the face; Buron was no traitor. There was a definite aura of power that emanated from that man, he could feel it, and he had spoken of a message. The Lord Marshal realised that this man _had_ attacked the company, and he had left Buron alive to deliver the message.

"This man that you speak of, he mentioned a message." He gestured to the men around him to leave. They all looked astounded that he had ventured to believe the obvious traitor. Toll gave Buron one last look of contempt before turning to leave the hall as well.

"Yes, lord. There is a message; he left me alive to deliver it."

"So what is his name, and what is the message?"

"His name he told me was Voldan Galdro, a General of Brilbane's forces, as for the message I don't know. He just told me to tell you that your enemies are catching up with you." The lord's face darkened again with anger upon hearing this and was about to lash out at the captain, but was held back as Buron held something out in his hand, "and to give you this."

At first the Lord Marshal didn't take it, just looked at the object. It was a diamond shaped piece of metal that looked silver, no wait; it was a light blue, with a laurel wreath surrounding a sceptre and slashed by a lightning bolt. He retrieved the object from the captain's hand. Almost as soon as he took the smooth material, his mind went blank and he felt weak.

…..

He looked around him, there was a beautiful city, the buildings all built on towers that loomed over the land, cities were in a tower, towns elevated hundreds of feet from the ground on masts, and everywhere was surround by forest.

Then he was in a city, the houses were beautiful, made out of a smooth stone the streets were all well made and without a single pot-hole, there were defences every three hundred yards or so; a bastion with battlements built in to allow soldiers to shoot down upon invaders, there were powerful guns on turrets, rocket launchers on pintles and light machine guns also mounted on pintles.

People were walking around going about there everyday business and all seemed oblivious to the Lord Marshal's presence. He walked up a street then as he turned a corner there was a flash, and the Lord Marshal was once again out of the city and on the ground outside.

There were three children in front of him, staring at him silently. He looked behind him, but there was no one there. He looked back at the three children, the smallest and youngest was a girl, in the middle was a boy, and the oldest was a girl. There was something about the children, about their unblinking stares that unnerved the lord.

He turned away, but the three were in front of him again. He turned again, but again the children were before him, their eyes boring into his head.

He turned again but the same thing happened. The lord span around, but they were there again. He kept spinning, until the children were a blur. He stopped, but the world didn't, in fact it was spinning faster. He was getting dizzy, but still everything span. Faster and faster it went. An electric blue strip of light appeared in the middle, cutting the blur in half.

As the blur span faster the light shone brighter, until there was a dazzlingly bright flash which temporarily blinded the lord. When his vision recovered the world was in flames, the city that was in front of him was lying in ruins. The forestry that surrounded the city was also flattened and burning. The children that had stood so hauntingly were now lying dead on the floor, which was throbbing and shaking. There was a massive thunderstorm ahead that covered all of the land, one the likes he had never seen before, the thunder claps shook the land even more, the lightning seared through the sky in blinding flashes.

Suddenly the thunder all rolled into one to create a voice that was harsh and unforgiving, a voice that sent chills down the spine of the Lord Marshal, which was a thing unheard of before. He wasn't afraid of anything, well that was what he likes to think, yet he was afraid of a thunderstorm that sounded like it had a voice.

"This is what you did to my planet." The voice said. "Your soldiers destroyed my people; your weapons destroyed my home. You destroyed my family!" the voice was growing louder and more menacing with every part that was said.

"I didn't destroy this planet; I have never visited this planet." There was no reply, the voice carried on as if he hadn't even spoken, then he remembered, this is a message, that been pre-recorded.

"You shall pay for what you did to my planet, to my people, to my children!"

"I have never hurt your family!" shouted the Lord Marshal.

"Your soldiers will be destroyed, and you will perish in the harshest possible manner!" the voice boomed. The Lord Marshal looked to where the children were, but they had disappeared and had been replaced by a man in armour that looked familiar, his body burned, and scratched, limbs broken out of place, one arm missing. The Lord Marshal found himself moving towards the body. As he approached, the body stirred. When he was right next to it, he realised he was looking at a mutilated burned and defeated image of himself.

Then this body sat up, its malevolent eyes piercing through his. Its arm outstretched and tried to grasp the lord who fell back. The creature was on its front now and was crawling towards the Necro marshal, a harsh growl emanating from its toothless mouth. The lord crawled back, trying to escape, but the creature kept on coming, moving faster and faster.

"This is what I will do to you!" the voice roared. Lightning bolts flashed through sky. A large rumble of thunder shook the ground so powerfully that it felt as if it would open up and consume him. Then to his horror, the beast was towering over him, clawing at his armour, scratching at his face. Then suddenly the beast loomed in and the world went dark. The Lord Marshal screamed.

He opened his eyes and saw he was back on his ship; he was on the floor his back against the wall. Buron was kneeling over him, a concerned look on his face. For one vile second the Lord Marshal thought he was the beast trying to kill him and take him to the gates of Hell. He surged up, proving to the beast that he was not scared.

"You don't scare me, beast!" he roared, and charged at a bewildered Buron. Using his powers he thundered into his chest, throwing him into the wall and killed him instantly. His vision cleared, and saw that it was not a beast, but Buron. He shrugged, 'he was a failure anyway' he thought and moved to the outer deck of the ship.

...

He was surrounded by his soldiers, all of whom were cowed by his presence as he stood there looking over the array of his ships and the soldiers marching in and out of them. He was proud to be CinC of all these soldiers, whose armour glistened a dull silver in the afternoon sunlight. As he looked around the deck, he saw all the eyes look to the floor as his met theirs, all but the eyes of the two commanders on deck; Toll and Fengo. Fengo was a lesser commander who led a brigade in Tolls Division. Vaako, he knew, was busy going after that no-good renegade Riddick, and he had sacrificed one of his best Purifiers just in case Vaako failed. But now the Lord Marshal had another problem on his hands, a problem much larger than the one Riddick posed. This problem was with a Brilbanian, and not just any Brilbanian, but a commander, who were renowned for their power and skill at fighting. He still remembered the report that Toll had relayed to him telling him about the losses and the near defeat. But his problem lay with one of the most feared of the Brilbanian commanders. He had done his research on Brilbane before sending Toll to attack it, and was thankful when one of his sources on that planet had told him that the feared Voldan was off-world. The invasion could have gone ill if he were there, all knew of the effect he had on his own soldiers, meaning they probably wouldn't have broke. Then a shout pulled him out of his reverie.

"A ship is approaching, lord, coming in fast."

"Send a fighter to intercept it, they must have news." The Lord Marshal said dismissively.

"But lord, this is not one of our ships. I don't know whose ship it is." At this information he swung furiously to the speaker, who nearly recoiled with the vehemence of the glare. Then he saw the ship over the soldiers shoulder and a shiver of fear coursed through his body as he recognised instantly what type of ship it was, mainly due to the smoothness of the outer armour and the shape of its body; it was Brilbanian. As far as he was aware there were no other Brilbanians on this planet.

As the ship flew past, he saw that the cockpit's side door was open and an armoured man, hooded cloaked, running down the makeshift ramp the door posed and jumping as he reached the end. It was an impossible feat that not even the best long jumper could manage, yet this man completed it as if it was as easy as jumping a puddle in the street. Two glints of silver appeared from the bottom of his gauntlets and plunged them into two of his soldiers' chests. As he landed, he rolled pressing a button underneath his middle finger on each palm of his gauntlets to retract the blades. As he rose he drew his 18 inch knives and slashed upwards at two other soldiers. The Lord Marshal saw the hesitation on the hooded and armoured mans face as he recognised some of the soldiers who now wore the armour of the Necromongers. A surge of pride ran through him as he realised that the attacker was at a disadvantage; he wouldn't attack his own soldiers, but with on command, they would attack him. Other Necromonger soldiers attacked but they were cut down immediately and easily by the skill of the knifeman. As he was killing the soldiers he didn't recognise, the lord knew that the hooded man, who was obviously the Brilbanian, Voldan, was trying to get to him. Eventually, after watching the Brilbanian work, and gauging his skill he held up his hand to call off all the Necros trying to arrest Voldan. He stood there with his arm outstretched and watched the soldiers part to let Voldan through.

"I will make you pay tenfold for every person that died on Brilbane, you pathetic cowardly bastard."

"Why will you not join me, like the others did? It would save you the trouble of trying to fight me."

"What; to become your slave, to obey every diminishing command you give? I don't think so." Voldan's voice had become cold, and sent shivers down all but the Lord Marshals back.

"You will live a life of freedom, without looking over your shoulders anymore. You will be a commander in the strongest army in the universe."

"I do not want to be a commander in your flea-ridden army. I want revenge on all the lives of my people which you stole!"

"They had the choice, they could either convert or die."

"Not much of a choice then, they are both exactly the same thing in my eyes. But," at this point there was a malevolent tone in his voice, "since you 'offered them a choice' as you say, I will offer you the same. You can either die here where no one can see you, or die in front of all your poxy followers."

"Even in front of your own people?" The Lord Marshal could see the hurt cross his shaded features.

"They stopped being my people when they joined with you."

"So why didn't you kill them when you attacked?"

"Do not try to trick me into me being the bad guy! Do not take me for a soft fool, If they attacked me, I would kill them like I will happily kill the rest of you, but since they were once my people, I show them respect. A word I never expect the likes of you to understand." He pointed his knife blade at the Lord Marshal as he spoke the last sentence.

"So you will not convert?"

"No I will not convert, but I am still waiting for your answer." The Lord Marshal didn't answer, he just grunted and charged using all of his speed and elbowed a thunderous blow into Voldans chest, sending him flying into the soldiers behind, and knocking some off the ship in the process. The Lord Marshal was impressed, most people he did that to died almost instantly from heart failure and many pierced organs from shattered ribs, even if they were wearing armour. But Voldan just stood brushed himself off, and walked forward. The only difference the Lord Marshal saw was that Voldan was angrier, and his armour was cracked from where he hit, but strangely, it was repairing itself. Voldan saw where his enemy was looking.

"Nano-bots, gotta love 'em." Then he charged forward, but didn't use his full speed, he was saving that. He had underestimated the Lord Marshals power, he saw he had mystical powers when he saw him take that poor man's soul. But he never thought he could move _that_ fast. He swung his knives at his enemy, aiming for the arms, neck head and chest, but none of his attacks landed a blow. The Lord Marshal was smirking.

"You will never hit me, my powers are far beyond yours you pathetic half-breed."

Just as he finished speaking Voldan launched a kick aimed for his chest and sent him flying from his feet and into his watching soldiers. He stood again and walked towards Voldan.

"You're not fast at all. You just wait while your opponents are talking for you to attack, how pathetic."

"You haven't seen my speed yet, do not underestimate me, I can move twice as fast as you if I wish."

"I can't wait to see it."

Voldan walked towards the lord so that they met. They started circling, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Voldan was the first to move, slashing his knives twice. Both attacks missed as the Lord Marshal dodged. It was Voldan's turn to dodge as the lord sent out two stinging blows that would have grounded him. They continued circling, sometimes stepping in then jumping back again to test each other. The Lord Marshal used his speed to attack Voldan each blow hitting the desired place and grounding the Brilbanian. Using this time the lord moved back to get a four headed pole-axe like weapon from one of his soldiers. When he turned around again, the general was up on his feet and facing him, his hood still over his face but one could clearly see the snarl on his face and the light in his eyes, his knives facing outwards towards the Lord.

Voldan ran forward again, his vision becoming masked by his rage, His knives flailing well before he reached his enemy. He was losing control and fast, if he carried on going like he was he would turn full Draktün, something which he hated doing as he became a danger to everyone around him, not just his enemy. The flailing was Voldans way of trying to regain control, though to the soldiers watching the battle, it looked like he had gone mad, and didn't know how to fight. The Lord Marshal looked around with an amused expression on his face, then looked back to Voldan. He charged as fast as he could towards the General sending him hurtling back yet again. This time there were no soldiers behind him to cushion his movement, he hit the deck and slid towards the edge. The Brilbanian knew that he was going to fall, unless he could grip on to the lip of the edge of the platform on which they were fighting. He flew over the edge, and using the small time window given to him twisted his body and flicked the switch under his fore-finger to extend his finger-claws. Luckily his fingers reached the lip and he embedded his claws into it, then just before he reached the edge he stopped, dangling off the ship and leaving a two inch trail that was cut deep where his claws had made contact. His knives weren't so lucky, he saw them plummeting to earth as he stopped himself from doing the same.

He heaved himself up, his ribs a mass of pain from where his enemy had struck him. Judging by the pain he had broken more than two, possibly three or four from both charges from the Lord Marshal. He knew that if it wasn't for his armour he would have died the first time.

As he stood up he saw the Lord Marshal walking towards him carrying a deadly and scary looking four bladed axe with a murderous expression on his face. His soldiers were falling in behind him ready to see the killing blow that would be delivered to this man who dared to attack their leader.

"You're not destined to kill me, and you will never succeed." The Lord said cockily then swung the axe at him that would have cut Voldan in half, had he not dodged out of the way. As he came behind him the Lord Marshal sent out a ferocious back kick which struck Voldan in the stomach, winding him and knocking him to the ground seven feet away.

"You are really starting to piss me off, you little rodent."

"Oh really?" Voldan asked in a wheeze, still trying to get his breath back. "You pissed me off a long time ago. Hell, I bet you even pissed your mother off, that's why you're in such a bad mood." The Lord Marshal screamed in rage at this mention of his mother and ran to where Voldan was lying, lifted the weapon above his head and brought it down towards Voldans head with enough force to cut it in half. He instinctively held his arms up in defence and roared in pain as the axe blade struck his Gauntlets. The armour had protected his arms from being severed, but one of arms had shattered under the weight of the blow.

"Why won't you die!" The Lord bellowed, then brought the axe down again but this time Voldan rolled out of the way and laboriously stood up. The Black clad man reached for his sword, but never grasped it as the Necromonger CinC swung round and smashed the axe through his armour and cutting deep in Voldans skin, ripping flesh and tearing muscle, his armour housing a large gash across the front which even now was being repaired by the nano-bots. Voldan spun through the air, smashing face first on to the deck and sliding across the polished floor, and fell off the edge, leaving a trail of blood. The Lord Marshal ran to edge to see if Voldan was hanging on, but he wasn't, he was plummeting to Earth. He grinned.

"Goodbye, Voldan, looks like you won't be killing me after all." Then suddenly as the Necro chief was watching him; Voldan disappeared, not a trace of him insight apart from the long and thick blood trail that painted the deck near the edge. He frowned seeing this disappearing act, then thought nothing of it, he was gone, and judging by the amount of blood he was losing must be near death. He turned round and found himself looking at a woman dressed in a grey, low cut dress and a black hooded bolero covering her head and shoulders. She was a beauty of a woman, possibly even more so than Vaako's spouse, who was a fine looking woman.

"Well, Daecia, it doesn't look like you will be seeing your husband again."

...

Voldan had landed in a wooded area and let out muffled cries of pain as he crashed through the branches. He hit the floor that was covered in leaves and grass and twigs. He tried to lift himself up and looked around trying to discern where he was but his vision was failing him. The last thing he saw before passing out was a manlike figure approaching him and the cold touch of steel on his throat.

**-The End-**

**-To be continued-**

**Hope you enjoyed this story, the second part will be coming up soon, see if you can guess where it is going to be based.  
**


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